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THE AMERICAN CONTINENT: 



EMBRACING 



ITS DISCOVERY AND CONQUEST — OPERATIONS OF CORTEZ 

IN MEXICO, AND PIZARRO IN PERU MANNERS, 

CUSTOMS, AND CEREMONIES 



WITH A SKETCII OP THE 

LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 

TO WHICH IS ADDED 

INTERESTING DESCRIPTIONS OF THE COUNTRY AND ITS PRO- 
DUCTS, SCENERY, MOUNTAINS, RIVERS, AND LAKES. 

ALSO, 

THE CITY OF MEXICO UNDER THE SPANIARDS, AND NEW 
ORLEANS UNDER THE FRENCH. 



Compile from tfje most 3£UI£a&It Jgourm.. - 

BY ROBERT^D.'UNGER. / °' C~ 

P IT I L A D E L P II I A:" °* ^ashinSt?*' 
PUBLISHED BY J. J. FULLMER & CO. 
1854. 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1854, 
Br J. J. Fullmer, 
In the Office of the Clerk of the District Court of the Eastern District 
of Pennsylvania. 



Slote A Moonbt, Stereotype™. 
Merrirew «fc TRompsok, Printers 



©\ 



PREFACE 



In presenting the following pages to the public, 
the compiler would remark that he expects no 
credit or literary fame whatever for any industry 
he has exercised in their production. His object 
has been to employ his time usefully, and to give, 
in a condensed and entertaining form, historical 
facts worthy of being known by every man, woman 
and child. Histories of America, as it was, hun- 
dreds of years ago, are a rarity, and those few that 
do exist are filled with much that is dull and not 
easily understood. In preparing this number of 
the Historical Cabinet, which, although the com- 
mencement of a series, is complete in itself, an at- 
tempt has been made, and, the compiler flatters him- 
self, successfully, to embody, in a small compass, 
much that is of special import, from the discovery 
of America by Columbus down to the year 1800. 
Believing that the perusal of these pages will en- 
lighten and instruct hundreds and thousands, who 
are now ignorant of the early history of our conti- 

a. \ v } 



PREFACE. 



nent, the compiler submits them without further 
comment. If they succeed in doing so, the time 
spent upon them will be considered as profitably 
employed. 

THE COMPILER. 



AMERICA. 

DISCOVERY AND CONQUEST 



America is a country of vast extent and territory, and 
which, though not cultivated so much by the hand of art as 
other portions of the globe, owes, in many respects, more 
to that of nature than any other division of the universe. 
The particular circumstances of this country require that we 
should, without describing its present state, afford such in- 
formation with regard to its discovery as is necessary for 
satisfying our readers. 

Venice and Genoa, towards the close of the fifteenth cen- 
tury, were the only powers in Europe who owed their sup- 
port to commerce. An interference of interests inspired a 
mutual rivalship ; but, in traffic, Venice was much superior. 
She engrossed the whole commerce of India, then, and 
indeed always, the most valuable in the world, but hitherto 
carried on through the inland parts of Asia, or by the way 
of Egypt and the Red Sea. In this state of affairs, Colum- 
bus, a native of Genoa, whose knowledge of the true figure 
of the earth, however attained, was much superior to the 
general notions of the age in which he lived, conceived a 
project of sailing to the Indies by a bold and unknown 
route, and of opening to his country a new source of opu- 
lence and power. But this purpose of sailing westward to 
the Indies was rejected by the Genoese as chimerical, and 
the principles on which it was founded as absurd. Stung 

CO 



8 THE HISTORICAL CABINET. 

with disappointment and indignation, Columbus retired from 
his country, and laid his scheme before the Court of France, 
where his reception was still more mortifying, and where, 
according to the general practice of that people, he was 
laughed at and ridiculed. Henry VII., of England, was 
his next resort; but the cautious politics of that prince 
were the most opposite imaginable to a great but uncertain 
design. 

In Portugal, where the spirit of adventure and discovery, 
about this time, began to operate, he had reason to expect 
better success. But the Portuguese contented themselves 
with creeping along the coast of Africa, and discovering one 
cape after another. They had no notion of venturing 
boldly into the open sea. Such repeated disappointments 
would have broken the spirit of any man but Columbus. 
The expedition required expense, and he had not the means 
of defraying it. His mind, however, still remained firm. 
He became more intent on his design, the more difficulty he 
found in accomplishing it, and was inspired with that noble 
enthusiasm which always animates an adventurous and origi- 
nal genius. His only resource now, was Spain ; and there, 
after eight years' attendance, he succeeded, and chiefly 
through the interest of Queen Isabella. Columbus now set 
sail in the year 1492, with a fleet of three ships, upon the 
most adventurous attempt ever undertaken by man, and in 
the fate of which the inhabitants of two worlds were inter- 
ested. In this voyage he had many, many difficulties to 
contend with ; the most striking was the variation of the 
compass, then first observed, and which seemed to threaten 
that the laws of nature were altered in an unknown ocean, 
and that the only guide he had left was ready to forsake 
him. His sailors, who had long been discontented, now 
broke out into open mutiny, threatening to throw him over- 
board, and insisted on their return. But the firmness of the 
commander, and much more, the discovery of land, after 



AMERICA — DISCOVERY AND CONQUEST. 9 

sailing thirty-three days, put an end to the commotion. 
Columbus first landed on one of the Bahama Islands ; but 
here, to his surprise and sorrow, he discovered, from the 
poverty of the islanders, that these could not be the Indies 
he was in search of. In steering southward, however, he 
found the island called Hispaniola, (now St. Domingo,) 
abounding in all the necessaries of life, inhabited by a hu- 
mane and hospitable people, and, what was of still greater 
consequence, as it insured his favorable reception at home, 
promising, from some samples he received, considerable 
quantities of gold. This island, therefore, he proposed to 
make the centre of his discoveries, and having left upon it a 
few of his companions, as the ground-work of a colony, 
returned to Spain to procure the necessary reinforcements. 

The Spanish Court was then at Barcelona. Columbus 
travelled thither from Seville, amidst the acclamations of the 
people, attended by some of the inhabitants, the gold, the 
arms, the ornaments, and utensils of the country he had dis- 
covered. This entry into Barcelona was a species of triumph 
more glorious than that of conquerors, more uncommon and 
more innocent. In this voyage he had acquired a general 
knowledge of all the islands in the great sea which divides 
North and South America, but he had no idea that there 
was an immense ocean between him and China. The coun- 
tries which he had discovered, were considered as a part of 
India. Even after the error, which gave rise to this opinion, 
was detected, and the true position of the New World was 
ascertained, the name has remained, and the appellation of 
the West Indies is given to the country, and that of Indi- 
ans to its inhabitants. Thus the West Indies were discovered 
by seeking a passage to the East; and, even after the dis- 
covery, still conceived to be a part of the Eastern hemis- 
phere. 

The present success of Columbus, his former disappoint- 
ments, and the glory attending so important and unsuspected 



10 THE HISTOEICAL CABINET. 

a discovery, rendered the Court of Spain as eager to forward 
his designs as it had been dilatory before. A fleet of seven- 
teen ships was immediately prepared ; all the necessaries for 
conquest or discovery were embarked ; fifteen hundred men, 
among whom were some of high rank and fortune, prepared 
to accompany Columbus, now appointed Governor, with the 
most ample authority. It is impossible to discover whether 
the genius of this great man, in first conceiving the idea 
of these discoveries, or his sagacity in the execution of the 
plan he had conceived, most deserved admiration. Instead 
of hurrying from sea to sea, and from one island to another, 
which, considering the ordinary motives to action among 
mankind, was naturally to be expected, Columbus, with 
such a field before him, unable to turn on either hand with- 
out finding new objects of his curiosity and his pride, deter- 
mined rather to turn to the advantage of the Court of 
Spain the discoveries he had already made, than to acquire 
for himself the unavailing applause of visiting a number of 
unknown countries, from which he reaped no other benefit 
but the pleasure of seeing them. With this view he made 
for Hispaniola, where he established a colony, and erected 
forts in the most advantageous grounds for securing the de- 
pendence of the natives. Having spent a considerable time 
in this employment, and labored with much assiduity and 
zeal for establishing this colony, as if his views extended no 
further, he next proceeded to ascertain and examine what 
advantages were most likely to be derived from his other 
discoveries. He had already touched at Cuba, which, from 
some specimens, seemed a rich discovery; but whether it 
was an island, or a part of some great continent, he was 
altogether uncertain. To ascertain this point was the present 
object of his intention. In coasting along the southern 
shore of Cuba, Columbus was entangled in a multitude of 
islands, of which he reckoned one hundred and sixty in one, 
day. These islands, which were well inhabited, and abound- 



AMERICA — DISCOVERY AND CONQUEST. 11 

ing in all the necessaries of life, gave him an opportunity 
of reflecting on this fertility of nature, where the world 
expected nothing but the barren ocean ; he called it the 
Queen's Garden, in gratitude to his royal benefactress, who 
was always uppermost in his memory. In the same voyage 
Jamaica was discovered. But to so many difficulties was 
Columbus exposed, on an unknown sea, among rocks, shelves 
and sands, that he returned to Hispaniola without learning 
anything more certain with regard to Cuba — the main object 
of this enterprise. 

By the first success of this great man, public diffidence 
was turned into admiration ; but by a continuance of this 
same success, admiration degenerated into envy. His ene- 
mies in Spain set every spring in motion against him ; and 
there is no difficulty in finding specious grounds of accusa- 
tion against such as are employed in the execution of an 
extensive and complicated plan. An officer was despatched 
from Spain, fitted by his character to act the spy and in- 
former, and whose presence plainly demonstrated to Columbus 
the necessity of returning to Europe, in order to obviate the 
objections or calumny of his enemies. 

It was not without great difficulty that he was enabled to 
set out on a third expedition, still more famous than any he 
had hitherto undertaken. He designed to stand to the south- 
ward of the Canary Islands, until he came under the equi- 
noctial line, and then to proceed directly westward, that he 
might discover what opening that might afford to India, or 
what new islands, or what continent, might reward his labor. 
In this navigation, after being long buried in a thick fog, 
and suffering numberless inconveniences from the excessive 
heats and rains between the tropics, they were at length 
favored with a smart gale, and went before it seventeen days 
to the westward. At the end of this time, a seaman saw 
land, which was an island on the coast of Guiana, now 
called Trinidad. Having passed this island, and two others 



12 THE HISTORICAL CABINET. 

which lie in the mouth of the great river Orinoco, the ad- 
miral was surprised with an appearance he had never seen 
before; this was the frightful tumult of the waves, occa- 
sioned by a conflict between the tide of the sea and the 
rapid current of the immense river Orinoco. But, sailing 
forward, he plainly discovered that they were in fresh water; 
and judging rightly that it was improbable any island 
should supply so vast a river, he began to suspect he had 
discovered the continent; but when he left the river, and 
found that the land continued on the westward for a great 
way, he was convinced of it. Satisfied with this discovery, 
he yielded to the uneasiness and distresses of his crew, and 
bore away for Hispaniola. In the course of this discovery, 
Columbus landed at several places, where, in a friendly 
manner, he traded with the inhabitants, and found gold and 
pearls in tolerable plenty. 

About this time the spirit of discovery spread itself widely, 
and many adventurers all over Europe wished to acquire the 
reputation of Columbus, without possessing his abilities. 
The Portuguese discovered Brazil. Cabot, an Italian, and 
a resident of Bristol, in England, discovered the north-east 
coasts, which afterwards composed the British Empire in 
North America ; and Amerigo Vespuccio, a merchant of 
Florence, in Italy, sailed to the southern continent of Ame- 
rica, and being a man of wealth and good address, had the 
honor of giving his name to half the globe. But no one is 
now imposed upon by the name ; all the world knows that 
Columbus was the first discoverer. The being deprived of 
the honoc^pf giving his name to the new world, was one 
of the smallest mortifications to which this great man was 
compelled to submit. For such were the clamors of his 
enemies, and the ingratitude of the Court of Spain, that, 
after discovering the continent, and making settlements in 
the islands of America, b" was treated like a traitor and 
carried over to Europe in irons He enjoyed, however, the 



AMERICA — DISCOVERY AND CONQUEST. 13 

glory of rendering the one-half of the world known to the 
other; a glory so much the more precious, as it was un- 
tainted by plunder or cruelty, which disgraced all the ex- 
ploits of those who came after him, and accomplished the 
execution of his plan. He fully vindicated himself at 
court, was restored to favor, and undertook another voyage, 
in which he suifered great fatigues. He returned to Spain, 
and died at Valladolid, in 1506, iu the 59rh year of his age. 
Christopher Columbus was born in the year 1447. He 
passed an early part of his youth in the employment of 
wool-carding, but was permitted % spend some time, how 
much is unknown, at the university of Pavia, where he 
learnt Latin, and attended to the studies connected with 
the art of navigation, especially drawing, astronomy, and 
geography. The vicissitude and variety of a nautical life, 
and the fame and wealth which successful captains acquired 
under the flag of the then flourishing Italian republics, ap- 
pear to have attracted him at a very early age to the occu- 
pation of his ancestors, who were followers of the ocean. 
At the age of fourteen he betook himself to the sea, and 
ever after followed it, with very short intermissions. Du- 
ring the long period previous to his settlement in Spain, his 
voyages, although occasionally to different parts of the At- 
lantic, were mostly in the Mediterranean; sometimes merely 
commercial, but more frequently expeditions of war. The 
destiny of Columbus soon led him to fix his residence re- 
mote from Italy, and in a country where his thirst for geo- 
graphical knowledge met immediately with the stimulus, 
and the satisfaction which it required. He repaired to 
Lisbon in Portugal, which, at that period, was the favorite 
resort of Italian adventurers, expert in the arts of com- 
merce and navigation. The Portuguese had already entered 
upon the magnificent career of discovery and conquest, 
which raised that little kingdom into wealth and weight, 
greatly disproportioned to its intrinsic consequence. Mari- 



14 THE HISTORICAL CABINET. 

ners distinguished for their, skill and experience, learned 
geographers, and men acquainted with the construction of 
charts, readily found employment at Lisbon. Here he 
would be likely to meet with far more auspicious opportuni- 
ties for the improvement of his mind, than he could have 
possessed, whilst a mere Geonese corsair; here he might 
enter upon a field of usefulness, precisely fitted to his 
genius. His brother Bartholomew already resided in Lisbon, 
devoted to the business of making maps, charts, spheres 
and nautical instruments. Christopher was either well 
known, or speedily ingratiated himself with those to whom 
he gained access; for not long after he settled in Portugal, 
he married. His wife died in a few years, leaving him one 
son, whom he named Diego. This marriage was, on many 
accounts, exceedingly beneficial to Columbus. It connected 
him with several Portuguese families of great respectability, 
and thu,s gave him a certain standing in Lisbon. But it 
was servi ;eable to him and to the world, in another respect. 
His wifeV father had been an eminent navigator. Among 
his papcis, after his decease, many charts and manuscript 
accounts of voyages were found, which were then invaluable. 
These were placed in the hands of Columbus, who had al- 
ready conceived the idea of a western passage to the Indies; 
and served to inform and guide the curiosity, which they 
inflamed. 

We shall not attempt to follow him through the hard 
struggle with the superstitious ignorance of the princes to 
whom he so frequently, and long so fruitlessly, sued for 
the privilege of making them monarchs of a richer realm 
than all Europe combined, and whose reiterated repulses 
would have discouraged any man, less endowed with heroic 
perseverance and fortitude than himself. While Columbus 
resided in Lisbon, he afforded considerable aid to his father, 
who was in very reduced circumstances. He went to Spain 
in 1484, carrying with him his motherless son Diego, then 



AMERICA — DISCOVERY AND CONQUEST. 15 

a child, whom he placed with the monks of a convent, whilst 
he went to Cordova to treat with the Spanish court. At 
Cordova he became acquainted with a lady of good family, 
who made him the father of his son Ferdinand. The inef- 
fectual efforts made by Columbus to engage the king and 
queen of Spain in his project are known, but it is not so 
generally understood how desperate his situation became, in 
the course of these negotiations. He had completely ex- 
hausted his limited means, in the prosecution of his long 
and harrassing suit. Its rejection left him in a state of ex- 
treme need. Disheartened by the total disappointment of 
the darling hope of years, suffering also by the unfaithful- 
ness of his dependants, in want of the very necessaries of 
life, he betook himself to a monastery, an humble suppliant 
for alms to support his existence. Then it was that the prior, 
moved by the condition of Columbus, whose really enlight- 
ened views, and whose integrity, simplicity, and manliness 
of character, he had ample opportunity to appreciate, hast- 
ened to the queen, and so represented the affair to her, that 
she again recalled Columbus to court, and sent him a small 
sum of money to defray his expenses. His voyages and suc- 
cess are known to the reader. The last incidents of his life, 
and subsequent fate of his family, deserve notice. He re- 
turned from his fourth voyage at the end of the year 1504. 
During this voyage the -elements seemed to conspire with 
the injustice of man to persecute and depress him. Almost 
denied admittance into the Spanish settlements in the Indies, 
and thwarted and insulted by the petty officials, who ruled 
over regions which ought, by the most solemn compacts, to 
have been his, he at last arrived at St. Lucar, his constitution 
greatly impaired by the unexampled hardships he had under- 
gone. What his own personal condition was then, and had 
been, may he judged by the very affecting letter, which 
he wrote to the king and queen, during his absence. " By 
my mishap" says he, " so little have I gained from twenty 



16 THE HISTORICAL CABINET. 

years service, such as I have served with so much fatigue and 
peril, that I do not now possess even a, cottage in Castile ; 
and if I wish to dine, or sup, or sleep, I have no plo.ce of 
refuge except the inn, and oftentimes I have wanted where- 
to ithal to pay my reckoning. Another thing has given me 
great grief, which was Don, Diego, my son, whom I left in 
Spain so friendless and destitute of all distinction and means 
of support." The first intelligence he received on his arri- 
val, was the death of his friend and protectress, Isabella, 
whose influence over the narrow-minded and selfish Ferdi- 
nand, had served to soften the asperities of his temper, and 
to qualify the harshness of his feelings towards Columbus. 
Struck to the soul with the news, he staid at Seville several 
months, to recover from the shock of grief, and to revive his 
exhausted frame, ere he repaired to court. Ferdinand re- 
ceived him at Segovia with a hollow show of welcome, but 
by no means with that cordiality and respect, which his sig- 
nal merits entitled him to anticipate. Columbus could see, 
that he stood before a hard and ungenerous master. Never- 
theless, he represented m strong terms, but in language as 
true and respectful as it was strong, the wrongs sustained by 
him ; the partial requital of his services, his injuries una- 
toned for, and slightingly regarded by the ministers of the 
crown ; and he solicited the punishment of his enemies and 
the restoration of his authority, in fulfilment of the grants 
so deliberately made, and so solemnly confirmed to him and 
his posterity forever. Ferdinand could not deny the justice 
of the suit ; but,, unwilling to grant, yet ashamed to refuse 
it, he told Columbus he would commission the Archbishop 
of Seville, to consider what should be done. But Columbus, 
well knowing this proposition was only made for the purpose 
of delay, urged the king, by memorial after memorial, to at 
once determine a thing which was too clear to admit of de- 
liberation. He was very zealously aided by many persons 
of the highest rank in the kingdom, who were indignant at 



AMERICA — DISCOVERY AND CONQUEST. 17 

the gross injustice, with which he had been treated. But 
all this availed nothing ; for those in the confidence of the 
king were aware, that his only object was to temporize with 
Columbus, in the expectation that his noble spirit would sink 
under his accumulated misfortunes, and thus terminate his 
ungrateful suit. This event but too speedily ensued. For 
a time Columbus put a more charitable construction upon 
the king's delays. He thought Ferdinand might, perhaps, 
be unwilling to decide so important a matter as this. Per- 
ceiving, however, that all hope of redress at the hands of the 
king was desperate, he rapidly declined, and was plainly ap- 
proaching his dissolution. Worn out by disease and hard- 
ships, and broken-hearted by the wrongs continually heaped 
upon him, he ceased to be numbered with the living. He 
was buried at Seville, with the expressive and appropriate 
inscription on his monument : 

" To Castile and Leon, 
Columbus gave a new World." 

His bones were afterwards taken to the Island of Hispan- 
iola, and deposited in the cathedral of the City of St. Do- 
mingo. They remained there until 1796, and were then 
transferred to Havana, in the Island of Cuba, where they 
now lie. Thus did the days of Columbus terminate. His 
glory must always continue unparalleled. He was tall in 
stature, of a large, muscular frame, with strongly marked 
features, a florid complexion, and a lively aspect. He was 
remarkable abstemious, uniform and regular in his habits, 
singularly devout, and distinguished for his scrupulous ob- 
servance of all the rites of the Catholic church. His char- 
acter is visible in his achievements. The dignity and inde- 
pendence of bis feelings, his ardent enthusiasm, his invin- 
cible resolution, the enterprising cast of his temper, his 
perseverance amid the frowns- of fortune, his fortitude .aider 
2* 



18 THE HISTORICAL CABINET. 

suffering, and his modest yet manly carriage in prosperity, 
his courage in withstanding, and spirit of conciliation in for- 
giving his enemies, and his faithful devotion to the interests 
of his sovereign ; these are leading traits of his character, 
not loosely inferred from partial observation, but gathered 
from the crowded incidents of a life passed in the eye of the 
world. For he was not one, concerning whom posterity can 
err.' 

Columbus left two sons, Diego and Ferdinand. The lat- 
ter entered the church and became distinguished for his 
great learning. He died at Seville in 1541. Diego, the 
eldest, inherited the titles and claims of his father. In 
1523 he died at Montalvan, leaving three sons and two 
daughters. One of his daughters, the elder, took the veil, 
and Isabella, the younger, married the Count of Gelves; the 
eldest son, Luis, succeeded to the family distinctions and 
rights. Luis died without any legitimate children, and was 
succeeded by Diego, the son of his younger brother Christo- 
pher. In 1578 Diego died without issue, and in him was 
extinguished the male line of the discoverer of America; 
and the splendid name of Columbus, in less than a century 
after its brilliant elevation, disappeared from the records of 
the Spanish nobility. The princely heritage of the family 
then passed into the female branch of the house of Gelves, 
and is at the present day in the hands of their descendants. 

The succeeding governors of Cuba and Hispaniola en- 
deavoured to purchase the same advantages, by the blood 
of the natives, which Columbus had obtained by his good 
sense and humanity. These islands contained mines of 
gold. The Indians only knew where they were situated; 
and the extreme avarice of the Spaniards, too furious to 
work by the gentle means of persuasion, hurried them to 
acts of the most shocking violence and cruelty, against 
those unhappy men, who, they believed, concealed from 
them part of their treasure. The slaughter once begun, 



AMERICA — DISCOVERY AND CONQUEST. 19 

they set no bounds to their fury; in a few years they de- 
populated Hispaniola, which contained three millions of 
inhabitants ; and Cuba, that had about six hundred thou- 
sand. Bartholomew de las Casas, a witness of those bar- 
barous depopulations, says, that the Spaniards went out 
with their dogs to hunt after men. The unhappy savages, 
almost naked and unarmed, were pursued like deer into the 
forests, devoured by dogs, killed with gunshot, and sur- 
prised and burnt in their habitations. The Spaniards had 
hitherto only visited the continent. From what they saw 
with their eyes, or learned by report, that this part of tho 
new world would afford a still more valuable conquest, 
Don Fernando Cortez was despatched from Cuba with six 
hundred men, eighteen horses, and a small number of field- 
pieces. With this inconsiderable force, he proposed to sub- 
due the most powerful state on the continent of America; 
this was the empire of Mexico, rich, powerful and inhabited 
by millions of Indians, passionately fond of war, and then 
headed by Montezuma, whose fame in arms struck terror 
into the neighboring nations. Never history, to be true, was 
more improbable and romantic than that of this war. The 
empire of Mexico had subsisted for ages. Its inhabitants 
were neither rude nor barbarous ; everything announced a 
polished and intelligent people. They knew, like the 
Egyptians of old, whose wisdom is still admired in this 
particular, that the year consisted of nearly three hundred 
and sixty-five days. Their superiority in military affairs, 
was the object of admiration and terror over all the conti- 
nent; and their government, founded on the basis of laws 
combined with religion, seemed to bid defiance to time itself. 
Mexico, the capital city of the empire, situated in the 
middle of a spacious lake, was the noblest monument of 
American industry. It communicated with the continent 
by immense causeways, which were carried through the 
lake. The city was admired for its buildings, all of stone, 



20 THE HISTORICAL CABINET. 

its squares and market-places, the shops which glittered 
with gold and silver, and the sumptuous palaces of Mon- 
tezuma, some erected on columns of jaspar, and containing 
whatever was most rare, curious, or useful. 

But all the grandeur of this empire would not defend it 
against the Spaniards. Cortez, in his march, met with a 
feeble opposition from the nations along the coast of Mexico, 
who were terrified at their first appearance. The warlike 
animals on which the Spanish officers were mounted, the 
artificial thunder which issued from their hands, the wooden 
castles which had wafted them over the ocean, struck a 
panic into the natives, from which they did not recover 
until it was too late. Wherever the Spaniards marched, 
they spared neither age nor sex, nothing sacred or profane. 
At last, the inhabitants of Tlascala, and some other states 
upon the coast, despairing of being able to oppose them, 
entered into their alliance, and joined arms with those ter- 
rible, and, as they believed, invincible conquerors. Cortez, 
thus reinforced, marched onward to Mexico, and, in his 
progress, discovered a volcano of saltpetre and sulphur, 
whence he could supply himself with powder. Montezuma 
heard of his progress without daring to oppose it. This 
sovereign is reported, by the boasting Spaniards, to have 
commanded thirty vassals, each of whom could have ap- 
peared at the head of a hundred thousand combattants, 
armed with bows and arrows ; and yet he dared not resist 
a handful of Spaniards, aided by a few Americans, whose 
allegiance would be shaken by the first reverse of fortune. 
Such was the difference between the inhabitants of the two 
worlds, and the fame of the Spanish victories, which always 
marched before them. 

By sending a rich present of gold, which only excited the 
Spanish avarice, Montezuma hastened the approach of the 
enemy. No opposition was made to their entry into his 
capital. A palace was set apart for Cortez and his eompan- 



AMERICA — DISCOVERY AND CONQUEST. 21 

ions, who were already treated as the masters of the new 
world. He had good reason, however, to distrust the 
affected politeness of this emperor, under which he suspected 
some plot for his destruction was concealed ; but he had no 
pretence for violence; Montezuma loaded him with kindness, 
and with gold in greater quantities than he demanded, and 
his palace was surrounded with artillery the most terrible of 
all engines to the Americans. At last a circumstance took 
place which afforded Cortez a pretext for beginning hos- 
tilities. In order to secure a communication by sea to 
receive the necessary reinforcements, he erected a fort and 
left a small garrison behind him, at Vera Cruz, which has 
since become an emporium of commerce. He understood 
that the Americans in the neighborhood had attacked this 
garrison in his absence, and that a Spaniard was killed in 
the action ; that Montezuma himself was privy to this vio- 
lence, and had issued orders that the head of the slain Span- 
iard should be carried through his provinces, to destroy a 
belief, which then prevailed among them, that the Europeans 
were immortal. 

Upon receiving this intelligence, Cortez went in person to 
the emperor, attended by a few of his most experienced 
officers. Montezuma pleaded innocence, in which Cortez 
seemed extremely ready to believe him, though, at the same 
time, he alleged that the Spaniards, in general, would never 
be persuaded of it, unless he returned along with them to 
their residence, which would remove ail jealousy between 
the two nations. The success of this interview showed the 
superiority of European address. A powerful monarch, in 
the middle of his own palace, and surrounded by his own 
guards, gave himself up a prisoner, to be disposed of accord- 
ing to the inclination of a few strangers who came to demand 
him. Cortez had now got into his hands an engine by 
which everything might be accomplished. The Americans 
had the highest respect, or rather superstitious veneration, 



22 THE HISTORICAL CABINET. 

for their emperor. Cortez, therefore, by keeping him in his 
power, allowing him to enjoy every mark of royalty but his 
freedom, and, at the same time, from a thorough knowledge 
of his character, being able to flatter all his tastes and pas- 
sions, maintained the easy sovereignty of Mexico by govern- 
ing its prince. Did the Mexicans, grown familiar with the 
Spaniards, begin to abate of their respect, Montezuma was 
the first to teach them more politeness. Was there a tu- 
mult excited through the avarice or cruelty of the Spaniards, 
Montezuma ascended the battlements of his prison, and har- 
rangued his Mexicans into order and submission. This farce 
continued a long time ; but on one of these occasions, when 
Montezuma was shamefully disgracing his character, by jus- 
tifying the enemies of his country, a stone, from an unknown 
hand, struck him on the temple, which, in a few days, oc- 
casioned his death. The Mexicans, now delivered from this 
emperor, who co-operated so strongly with the Spaniards, 
elected a new prince, the famous Gautimozin, who, from the 
beginning, discovered an implacable animosity against the 
Spanish name. Under his conduct, the unhappy Mexicans 
rushed against those very men whom a little before they had 
offered to worship. The Spaniards, however, by the dex- 
terous management of Cortez, were too firmly established to 
be expelled from Mexico. 

The immense tribute which the grandees of this country 
had agreed to pay to the crown of Spain, amounted to six 
hundred thousand marks of pure gold, besides an amazing 
quantity of precious stones, a fifth part of which, distributed 
among his soldiers, stimulated their avarice and their cour- 
age, and made them willing to perish rather than part with 
so precious a booty. The Mexicans, however, made no 
small efforts for independence; but all their valor, and 
despair itself, gave way before what they called the Spanish 
thunder. Guatimozin and the empress were taken prisoners. 
This was the prince who, when he lay stretched on a bed 



AMERICA — DISCOVERY AND CONQUEST. 23 

of burning coals, by order of one of the receivers of the 
king of Spain's exchequer, who inflicted the torture to dis- 
cover into what part of the lake he had thrown his riches, 
said to his high-priest, condemned to the same punishment, 
and who loudly expressed his sense of the pains that he en- 
dured, " Do you imagine that I lie on a bed of roses ?" 
The high-priest remained silent, and died in an act of obedi 
ence to his sovereign. Cortez, by getting a second emperor 
into his hands, made a complete conquest of Mexico; with 
which the golden Castile, Darien, and other provinces, fell 
into the hands of the Spaniards. 

While Cortez and his soldiers were employed in reducing 
Mexico, they obtained intelligence of another great empire, 
situated towards the equinoctial line, and the tropic of Cap- 
ricorn, which was said to abound in gold and silver, and pre- 
cious stones, and to be governed by a prince more magnifi- 
cent than Montezuma. This was the empire of Peru, which 
extended in length near 30 degrees, and was the only other 
country in America that deserved the name of a civilized 
kingdom. Whether it happened that the Spanish govern- 
ment had not received certain intelligence concerning Peru, 
or that, # being engaged in a multiplicity of other concerns, 
it did not choose to adventure on new enterprises; certain it 
is, that this extensive country, more important than Mexico 
itself, was reduced by the endeavors, and at the expense of 
three private persons. The names of these were Francisco 
Pizarro, Almagro, and Lucques, a priest, but a man of con- 
siderable fortune. The two former were natives of Panama, 
men of doubtful birth and low education. Pizarro, the soul 
of the enterprise, could neither read nor write. They sailed 
over into Spain, and without difficulty, obtained a grant of 
what they should conquer. Pizarro then set out for the con- 
quest of Peru, with two hundred and fifty foot, sixty horses, 
and twelve small pieces of cannon, drawn by slaves from the 
•conquered countries. If we reflect that the Peruvians nat- 



24 THE HISTORICAL CABINET. 

urally entertained the same prejudices with the Mexicans in 
favor of the Spanish nation, and were, besides, of a charac- 
ter still more soft and unwarlike, it need not surprise us, 
after what has been said of the conquest of Mexico, that, 
with this inconsiderable force, Pizarro should make a deep 
impression on the Peruvian empire. There were particular 
circumstances, likewise, which conspired to assist him, and 
which, as they discover somewhat of the history, religion, 
and state of the human mind in this immense continent, it 
may not be improper to relate. 

Mango Capac was the founder of the Peruvian empire. 
He was one of those uncommon men, who, calm and dis- 
passionate themselves, can observe the passions of their fellow- 
creatures, and turn them to their own profit and glory. He 
observed that the people of Peru were naturally super- 
stitious, and bad a particular veneration for the sun. He 
pretended, therefore, to be descended from that luminary, 
whose worship he was sent to establish, and whose authority 
he was entitled to bear. By this story, romantic as it ap- 
pears, he easily deceived a credulous people, and brought a 
large extent of territory under his jurisdiction ; a larger 
still, he subdued by his arms ) but both the force and the 
deceit he employed for the most laudable purposes. He 
united and civilized these dispersed barbarous people ; he 
subjected them to laws, and trained them to arms; he soft- 
ened them by the institution of a benevolent religion ; in 
short, there was no part of America where agriculture and 
the arts were so assiduously cultivated, and where the people 
were of such mild and ingenuous manners. A race of 
princes succeeded Mango, distinguished by the title of Incas, 
and revered by the people as descendants of their great god, 
the Sun. The twelfth of these was now on the throne, and 
named Atabalipa. His father, Guiana Capac, had conquered 
the province of Quito, which now makes a part of Peru. 
To secure himself in the possession, he married the daughter 



AMERICA — DISCOVERY AND CONQUEST. 25 

of the natural prince of that country, and of this marriage 
had sprung Atabalipa. His elder brother, named Huescar, 
of a different mother, had claimed the succession to the 
whole of his father's dominions, not excepting Quito, which 
devolved on the younger by a double connexion. A civil 
war had been kindled on this account, which, after various 
turns of fortune, and greatly weakening the kingdom, ended 
in favor of Atabalipa, who detained Huescar as a prisoner 
in the town of Cusco, the capital city of the Peruvian em- 
pire. I»- this feeble and disjointed state was the kingdom 
of Peru when Pizarro advanced to attack it. The ominous 
predictions of religion, too, as in most other cases, joined 
their force to human calamities. Prophecies were recorded, 
dreams were recollected, which foretold the subjection of the 
empire by unknown persons, whose description exactly cor- 
responded to the appearance of the Spaniards. In these 
circumstances, Atabalipa, instead of opposing Pizarro, set 
himself to procure^their favor. The latter, however, whose 
temper partook of the meanness of his education, had no 
conception of dealing gently with those he called barbarians, 
but who, however, though less acquainted with the cruel art 
of destroying their fellow-creatures, were more civilized than 
himself. While he was engaged in conference, therefore, 
with Atabalipa, his men, as they had been previously in- 
structed, furiously attacked the guards of that prince, and, 
having butchered five thousand of them, as they were press- 
ing forward, without regard for their particular safety, to 
defend the sacred person of their monarch, seized Atabalipa 
himself whom they carried off to the Spanish quarters 
Pizarro, with the sovereign in his hands, might already be 
deemed the master of Peru, for the inhabitants of this 
country were as strongly attached to their emperor as were 
the Mexicans. Atabalipa was not long in their hands be- 
fore he began to treat for his ransom. On this occasion, the 
ancient ornaments, amassed by a long line of magnificent 



26 THE HISTORICAL CABINET. 

kings, the hallowed treasures of the most sumptuous tem- 
ples, were brought out to save him, who was the support of 
the kingdom, and the religion. While Pizarro was engaged 
in this negotiation, by which he proposed, without releasing 
the emperor, to get into his possession an immense amount 
of his beloved gold, the arrival of x\lmagro caused some 
embarrassment in his affairs. The friendship, or rather the 
external show of friendship, between these men, was solely 
founded on the principle of avarice, and a bold enterprising 
spirit, to which nothing appeared too dangerous that might 
gratify their ruling passion. When their interests, there- 
fore, happened to interfere, it was not to be thought that 
any measures could be kept between them. Pizarro ex- 
pected to enjoy the most considerable share of the treasure 
arising from the emperor's ransom, because he had the chief 
hand in acquiring it. Almagrp insisted upon being upon 
an equal footing ; and at length, lest the common cause 
should suffer by any rupture between them, this disposition 
was agreed to. The ransom was paid without delay, a sum 
exceeding their conception, but not capable to gratify their 
avarice. It amounted to seven million five hundred thou- 
sand dollars, and considering the value of money at that 
time, was prodigious ; on the dividend, after deducting a 
fifth for the king of Spain, and the shares of the chief com- 
manders and other officers, each private soldier had over ten 
thousand dollars. With such, fortunes, it was not to be ex- 
pected that a mercenary army would incline to be subjected 
to the rigors of military discipline. They insisted on being 
disbanded, that they might enjoy the fruits of their labor in 
quiet. Pizarro complied with this demand, sensible that 
avarice would still detain a number in his army, and that 
those who returned with such magnificent fortunes would 
induce new adventurers to pursue the same plan for acquir- 
ing gold. These wise reflections were abundantly verified ; 
it was impossible to send out better recruiting r-fficers than 



AMERICA — DISCOVERY AND CONQUEST. 27 

those who had themselves profited by the field ; new soldiers 
constantly arrived, and the Spanish armies never wanted 
reinforcements. 

This immense ransom was only a further reason for de- 
taining Atabalipa in confinement, until they discovered 
whether he had another treasure to gratify their avarice. 
But whether they believed he had no more to give, and were 
unwilling to employ their troops in guarding a prince from 
whom they expected no further advantage, or that Pizarro 
had conceived an aversion against the Peruvian emperor, on 
account of some instances of craft and duplicity which he 
observed in his character, and which he conceived might 
prove dangerous to his affairs, it is certain, that, at his com- 
mand, Atabalipa was put to death. To justify this cruel 
proceeding, a pretended charge was exhibited against the un- 
happy prince, in which he was accused of idolatry, of having 
many concubines, and other circumstances of equal imperti- 
nence. The only just ground of accusation against him was, 
that his brother, Huescar, had been put to death by his 
command; and even this was considerably palliated, because 
Huescar had been plotting his destruction, that he might 
establish himself on the throne. Upon the. death of the 
Inca, a number of candidates appeared for the throne. The 
principal nobility set up the full brother of Huescar ; Pizarro 
set up a son of Atabalipa ; and two generals of the Peruvi- 
ans endeavored to establish themselves by the assistance of 
the army. These distractions, which, in another empire 
would have been extremely hurtful, and even here at another 
time, were at present rather advantageous to Peruvian af- 
fairs. The candidates fought against one another; their 
battles accustomed these harmless people to blood; and such 
is the preference of a spirit of any kind raisedjn a nation to 
a total lethargy, that in the course of those quarrels among 
themselves, the inhabitants of Peru assumed some courage 
against the Spaniards, whom they regarded as the ultimate 



28 THE HISTORICAL CABINET. 

cause of all their calamities. The losses which the Span- 
iards met with in these quarrels, though inconsiderable in 
themselves, were rendered dangerous by lessening the opin- 
ion of their invincibility, which they were careful to pre- 
serve among the inhabitants of the new world. This con- 
sideration engaged Pizarro to conclude a truce ; and the in- 
terval he employed in laying the foundation of the famous 
city of Lima, and in settling the Spaniards in the country. 
But, as soon as a favorable opportunity offered, he renewed 
the war against the Indians, and, after many difficulties, 
made himself master of Cusco, the capital of the empire. 
While he was engaged in these conquests, new grants and 
supplies arrived from Spain. Pizarro obtained two hundred 
leagues along the sea-coast, to the southward of what had 
been before granted, and Almagro two hundred leagues to 
the southward of Pizarro's government. This division occa- 
sioned a warm dispute between them, each reckoning Cusco 
within his own district ; but the dexterity of Pizarro brought 
about a reconciliation. He persuaded his rival, that the 
country which really belonged to him lay to the southward 
of Cusco, and that it was no way inferior in riches, and 
might be as easily conquered as Peru. He offered him his 
assistance in the expedition, the success of which he did not 
even call in question. 

* Almagro, that he might have the honor of subduing a 
kingdom for himself, listened to his advice ; and, joining as 
many of Pizarro's troops as he thought necessary, he pene- 
trated, with great danger and difficulty, into Chili ; losing 
many of his men as he passed over mountains of an immense 
height, and always covered with snow. He reduced, how- 
ever, a very considerable part of this country. But the Pe- 
ruvians were now become too much acquainted with war, not 
to take advantage of the division of the Spanish troops. 
They made an effort for regaining their capital, in which, 
Pizarro being indisposed, and Almagro removed at a dis- 



AMERICA — DISCOVERY AND CONQUEST. 29 

tance, they were very nearly successful. The latter, how- 
ever, no sooner got notice of the siege of Cusco, than, re- 
linquishing all views of distant conquests, he returned to se- 
cure the grand objects of their former labors. He raised 
the siege, with infinite slaughter of the assailants ; but, hav- 
ing obtained possession of the city, he was unwilling to give 
it up to Pizarro, who now approached with an army, and 
knew of no other enemy than the Peruvians. This dispute 
occasioned a long and bloody struggle between them, in 
which the turns of fortune were various, and the resentment 
fierce on both sides, because the fate of the vanquished was 
certain death. This was the lot of Almagro, who in an ad- 
vanced age, fell a victim to the security of a rival, in whose 
dangers and triumphs he had long shared, and with whom, 
from the beginning of the enterprise, he had been intimately 
connected. During the course of this civil war, many Peru- 
vians served in the Spanish armies, and learned, from the 
practice of Christians, to butcher one another. That blinded 
nation, however, at length opened their eyes, and took a 
very remarkable resolution. They saw the ferocity of the 
Europeans, their unextinguisbablc resentment and avarice, 
and they conjectured that these passions would never permit 
their contests to subside. " Let us retire," they said, 
"from among them; let us fiy to the mountains; they will 
speedily destroy one another, and then we may return in 
peace to our former habitations." This resolution was in- 
stantly put in practice; the Peruvians dispersed, and left 
the Spaniards in their capital. Had the force on each side 
been exactly equal, this singular policy of the natives of 
Peru might have been attended with success. But the vic- 
tory of Pizarro put an end to Almagro's life, and to the 
hopes of the Peruvians, who never afterwards succeeded in 
making head against the Spaniards. 

Pizarro, now sole master of the field, and of the richest 
empire in the world, was still urged on by his boundless 



30 THE HISTORICAL CABINET. 

ambition to undertake new enterprises. The southern coun- 
tries of America, into which he had sometime before des- 
patched Almagro, offered the richest conquest. Towards 
this quarter the mountains of Potosi, deeply enriched with 
silver ore, had been discovered. He therefore followed the 
track of Almagro into Chili, and reduced another part of that 
country. Orellana, one of his comrades, passed the Andes 
range of mountains and sailed down the river Amazon to its 
mouth — an immense navigation, which discovered a rich and 
delightful country; but as it is mostly flat, and therefore not 
abounding in minerals, then, and ever since, neglected it. 
Pizarro meeting with repeated success, and having no supe- 
rior to control, no rival to keep him within bounds, now gave 
loose reins to the natural ferocity of his temper, and beha- 
ved with the basest tyranny and cruelty against all who had 
not concurred in his designs. This conduct raised a conspi- 
racy against him, to which he fell a sacrifice in his own pal- 
ace, and in the city of Lima, which he himself had founded. 
The partisans of Almagro now declared his son as their 
viceroy. Though the greater part of the nation were ex- 
tremely well satisfied with the fate of Pizarro, they did 
not concur with this declaration. They waited the orders 
of Charles V., king of Spain, who sent out Vaca di Castro 
to be their governor. By his integrity and wisdom, this 
man was admirably fitted to heal the wounds of the colony, 
and to place everything on the most advantageous footing, 
both for it and for the mother country. The mines of La 
Plata and Potosi, by his prudent management, became an 
object of public utility to the court of Spain. They had 
formerly been private plunder. The parties were silenced 
or crushed ; young Almagro, who would hearken to no 
terms of accommodation, was put to death, and tranquillity 
was restored to Peru, which, since the arrival of the Span- 
iards, was unknown. Castro, it seems, however, had not 
been sufficiently well skilled in gaining, by proper bribes and 



AMERICA — DISCOVERY AND CONQUEST. 31 

promises, the favor of the Spanish ministry, which was 
always to be expected from the governor of so rich a coun- 
try. A council, by their advice, was sent over to control 
Castro, and the colony was again unsettled. The party spirit 
but just extinguished, began to blaze anew, and the brother 
of the famous Pizarro, Gonzalo, set himself at the head 
of his brother's partisans, with whom many new malcontents 
had united. It was now no longer a dispute between gov- 
ernors about the bounds of their jurisdiction. Gonzalo only 
paid a nominal submission to the king. He strengthened 
daily, and even went so far as to behead a governor who 
was sent over to curb him. He gained the confidence of the 
admiral of the Spanish fleet in the South seas, by whose 
means he proposed to hinder the landing of any troops from 
Spain, and he had a view of uniting the inhabitants of Mex- 
ico in his revolt. 

Such was the situation of affairs, when the court of 
Spain, sensible of their mistake in not sending into America, 
men whose character and virtue only, and not opportunity 
and cabal, pleaded in their behalf, dispatched, with unlim- 
ited powers, Petro de la Gascar, a man differing from Castro 
only in being of a more mild and insinuating behaviour, 
but with the same love of justice, the same greatness of 
soul, and the same disinterested spirit. All those who had 
not joined in Pizarro's revolt, flocked to his standard; many 
of his friends, charmed with the behaviour of Gascar, for- 
sook their old connections ; the admiral was gained over by 
insinuation to return to his duty; and Gonzalo himself 
offered a full indemnity, provided he would return to the 
allegiance of the Spanish crown. But, so intoxicating are 
the ideas of royalty, that Pizarro's brother was inclined to 
run every hazard, rather than to submit to any officer of 
Spain. With those of his partisans, therefore, who con- 
tinued to adhere to his interest, he determined to venture a 
battle, in which he was conquered and taken prisoner. His 



32 THE HISTORICAL CABINET. 

execution followed soon after ; and thus the brother of him 
who conquered Peru for the crown of Spain, fell a sacrifice 
for the security of the Spanish dominion over that country. 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 

The great Western continent, frequently denominated the 
New World, extends from the 80th degree north, to the 
50th degree south latitude, and where its breadth is cor- 
rectly ascertained, from the 35th to the I36th degree of 
west longitude from London ; stretching between eight and 
nine thousand miles in length, and its greatest breadth three 
thousand six hundred and ninety. It lies in two hemis- 
pheres, has two summers and a double winter, and enjoys 
all the variety of climates which the earth affords. It is 
washed by the two great oceans. To the eastward it has 
the Atlantic, which divides it from Africa and Europe: 
and to the west the Pacific, or Great South Sea, by whic! j 
it is separated from Asia. By these seas it carries on a 
direct commerce with the other three parts of the world. 
It is composed of two great continents, one on the north, 
the other on the south, which are joined by the Isthmus of 
Darien, at one place only sixty miles wide. In the great 
gulf which is formed between the isthmus and the northern 
and southern continents, lie a multitude of islands, many 
of them large, most of them fertile, and denominated the 
West Indies, in contradistinction to the countries and islands 
of Asia, beyond the Cape of Good Hope, which are called 
the East Indies. 

Before proceeding to treat of the separate countries into 
which America was formerly divided, it is proper to take 
notice of those immense mountains and rivers which are con- 
fined within the limits of particular provinces, and extend 
ovw a great part of the continent. For though America in 



AMERICA — GENERAL DESCRIPTION. S3 

general is not a mountainous country, it has the greatest 
mountains in the world. In South America, the Andes, or 
Cordilleras, run from north to south, along the coast of the 
Pacific ocean. They exceed in length any other chain of 
mountains in the other parts of the globe, extending from 
the Isthmus of Darien to Magellan's Straits ; they run a 
length of four thousand three hundred miles, and divide the 
whole southern parts of America. Their height is as re- 
markable as their length ; for, though in part within the 
torrid zone, they are constantly covered with snow. Chim- 
borazo, the highest of the Andes, is twenty thousand six 
hundred and eight feet high ; of this about two thousand 
eight hundred feet from the summit are always covered with 
snow. Carazon was ascended by some French astronomers, 
and is said to be fifteen thousand eight hundred feet in 
height. In North America, which is chiefly composed of 
gentle ascents, or level plains, we know of no considerable 
mountains, except those towards the pole, and that long 
ridge which lies on the Pacific coast, denominated the Rocky 
Mountains. 

Without question, America is that part of the globe best 
watered; and that not only for the support of life, and all 
the purposes of fertility, but for the convenience of trade, 
and the intercourse of each part with the others. In North 
America, those vast tracts of country lying inland a great 
distance from the two oceans are watered by immense lakes 
of fresh water, which not only communicate with each other, 
but give rise to several great rivers, particularly the Missis- 
sippi, running from north to south till it falls into the gulf 
of Mexico, after a course, including its turnings, of over four 
thousand five hundred miles, receiving in its progress the 
vast tribute of the Missouri, the Ohio, the Illinois and other 
great rivers ; and on the north, the St. Lawrence, running 
a contrary course from the Mississippi, till it empties itself 
into the ocean near Newfoundland ; all of them nearly be- 



34 THE HISTORICAL CABINET. 

ing navigable almost, to their heads, lay open the inmost 
recesses of this great continent, and afford such an inlet for 
commerce, as produces the greatest advantage, wherever the 
country adjacent is inhabited by an industrious people. The 
eastern side of North America, besides the noble rivers Hud- 
son, Delaware, Susquehanna and Potomac, supplies several 
others of great depth, length and commodious navigation; 
hence, many parts of the settlements are so advantageously 
intersected with navigable rivers and creeks, that the plant- 
ers, without exaggeration, may be said to have each a harbor 
at his door. 

South America is, if possible, in this respect, even more 
fortunate. It supplies the two largest rivers in the world : 
the Amazon and the Rio de la Plata, or Plate river. The 
first, rising in Peru, not far from the Pacific, passes from 
west to east, and falls into the ocean between Brazil and 
Guiana, after a course of more than three thousand miles, in 
which it receives a prodigious number of great and naviga- 
ble rivers. The Rio de la Plata rises in the heart of the 
country, and, having its strength gradually augmented by 
an accession of many powerful streams, discharges itself with 
such vehemence into the sea, as to make its taste fresh many 
leagues from land. Besides these, there are many other 
rivers in South America, of which the Orinoco is the most 
considerable. 

A country of such vast extent on each side of the equa- 
tor, must necessarily have a variety of soils as well as cli- 
mates. America may be deemed the treasury of nature, 
producing most of the metals, minerals, plants, fruits, trees, 
and wood, to be met with in the other parts of the world, 
and many of them in greater quantities and higher perfec- 
tion. The gold and silver of America, supplied Europe 
with such immense quantities of those valuable metals, that 
they have become much more common ; so that the gold 



AMERICA — GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 35 

and silver in the old world now bear little proportion to the 
high price set upon them before the discovery of America. 

This country also produces diamonds, pearls, emeralds, 
amethysts, and other valuable stones, which, by being taken 
into Europe, have contributed likewise to lower their value. 
To these, which arc chiefly the production of the southern 
portion of the continent, may be added a great number of 
other commodities, which, though of less price, are of much 
greater use. Of these are the plentiful supplies of cochi- 
neal, indigo, anatto, log-wood, brazil, fustic, pimento, lig- 
numvitae, rice, ginger, cocoa, or the chocolate nut; sugar, 
cotton, tobacco, banillas, red-wood, the balsams of Tolu, 
Peru and Chili; that valuable article in medicine, the 
Jesuits' bark, mechoacan, sassafras, sarsaparilla, cassia, ta- 
marinds, hides, furs, ambergris, and a great number of 
woods, roots and plants, which, before the discovery of 
America, were entirely unknown. 

This continent has also a great variety of excellent fruits, 
which here grow wild to great perfection, as pine-apples, 
pomegranates, citrons, lemons, oranges, malicatons, cherries, 
pears, apples, figs, grapes, great numbers of culinary, medi- 
cinal, and other herbs, roots and plants; and so fertile is 
the soil, that many exotic productions are nourished in as 
great perfection as in their native ground. 

Though the Indians still live rn the quiet possession of 
some large tracts, America is chiefly claimed and divided into 
republics, states and colonies, partly owned and governed by 
three European nations and their offsprings. The Span- 
iards, as they first discovered it, formerly had the largest 
and most valuable portions of it, extending from New 
jMexico and Louisiana, in North America, to the straits of 
Magellan, only excepting the country of Brazil, which be- 
longed to the Portuguese; for though the French and Dutch 
had some forts upon Surinam and Guiana, they scarcely 



6K> THE HISTORICAL CABINET. 

deserve to be considered as former proprietors of any part 
of the southern continent. 

Next to Spain, the most considerable proprietor of Amer- 
ica was Great Britain, who derived her claim to North 
America, from the first discovery of that continent, by Sebas- 
tian Cabot, in the name of Henry VII., in the year 1497, 
about five years after the discovery of South America by 
Columbus, in the name of the king of Spain. This country 
was in general called Newfoundland, a name which is now 
appropriated solely to an island on its coast. It was a long 
time before any attempt was made by the English govern- 
ment to settle the country. Sir Walter Raleigh, an uncom- 
mon genius, and a brave commander, first showed the way, 
by planting a colony in the southern part, which he called 
Virginia, in honor of his mistress, Queen Elizabeth. 

We shall divide the western hemisphere into three grand 
divisions in the. following order : North America, South 
America and the West Indies. 



NORTH AMERICA. 

This division of America is separated by the Isthmus of 
Darien, from the Southern part, and extends from the Isth- 
mus to within a couple of degrees of the north pole. It is 
very remarkable, that the climates of North America are 
colder by several degrees, than any of the countries in the 
same latitude in Europe. Thus, British America, which is 
nearly in the same latitude with Great Britain, is almost 
insufferably cold. The greatest part of the frozen country 
of Newfoundland, the Bay of St. Lawrence and Cape Breton, 
lie opposite the coast of France. Nova Scotia and the New 
England states are in the same latitude as the Bay of Bis- 
cay. New York and Pennsylvania lie opposite to Spain and 
Portugal. Hence the coldest winds of North America blow 



AMERICA — GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 37 

from the North and West, while in Europe they are from 
the North and East. 

The discoveries of Cook, Perouse and Vancouver, and 
others, seem to have completed the geography of North 
America, and the travels of Hearne and Mackenzie have im- 
parted much information respecting its confines on the Arc- 
tic ocean. We shall first speak of that portion of the 
northern continent belonging at the present day to Great 
Britain. That nation had extended its colonies so far as to 
render it difficult to ascertain the precise bounds of its em- 
pire in North America, to the northern and western sides'; 
but these flattering prospects were utterly annihilated by a 
contest between the mother country and the colonists, which 
terminated in the establishment of the new and now powerful 
republic of the United States of America. 

The country now belonging to Great Britain, is bounded 
by unknown seas and lands, about the pole, on the north; 
by the Atlantic ocean on the east, by the United States on 
the south, and by the Pacific ocean on the west. 

The tremendous high mountains towards the north, their 
being covered with eternal snow, and the winds blowing from 
thence three-quarters of the year, occasion a degree of cold 
over the British dominions, in America, all the year. The 
air, in the more northern part, is seldom, if ever, clear. In 
the spring and fall there are heavy, wet fogs, and in the 
winter the air is full of icy sjpiculae, that are visible to the 
naked eye ; for, as there arises, at this time of the year, a 
very thick vapor called frost-smoke, this vapor freezing, is 
driven by the wind in the form of spiculae. Mock suns, 
and haloes, or red circles about the moon and sun, very 
luminous and beautifully tinged with all the various colors 
of the rainbow, are common. Six of these mock suns have 
been seen at one time, forming a scene of grandeur indes- 
cribable. The true sun rises and sets with a large cone of 
yellow light perpendicular to it ; and no sooner does it ap- 
4 



38 THE HISTORICAL CABINET. 

pear than the Aurora Borealis spreads a thousand different 
lights and colours over the whole concave of the sky, with 
so resplendent a beauty, that even the full moon does not 
efface their lustre ; but if the moon does not shine, these 
lights are much more apparent, and one may read distinctly 
by them. The stars seem in this country to burn with'^, 
fiery redness, especially those near the horizon, which 
strongly resemble a fire or the red light of a ship at a dis- 
tance. Thunder and lightning are not frequent during the 
summer, though thut season for about six weeks or two 
months, is comparatively warm ; but when it does happen, 
it is terrible. 

There are numerous rivers, bays, straits and lakes in this 
country, the names of which have been principally taken 
from English navigators and commanders by whom they 
were first discovered The principal bays are those of Hud- 
son and Baffin ; the chief straits, those of Hudson, Davis 
and Belleisle ; and the chief rivers arc the St. Lawrence, 
Moose, Severn, llupert, Nelson and Black Biver. There are 
many lakes, but they produce nothing deserving of notice. 
The soil is extremely barren, except in Canada (the most 
southern part,) aod a few hundred miles north of its boun- 
daries. To the northward of Hudson's Bay, even the pine, 
ono of the most hardy trees, is seen no longer, and the earth 
produces nothing but some miserablo shrubs. 

There are many quadrupeds in this country, such as the 
moose-deer, stags, reindeer, bears, tigers, buffaloes, wolves, 
foxes, beavers, otters, lynxes, martins, squirrels, ermines, 
wild-cats, and hares; also, a singular animal called the 
musk ox. 

Birds abound in large quantities, geese, ducks, buzzards, 
partridges, and all kinds of wild fowl. 

The seas abound with whales, seals, cod and a white fish 
nearly resembling the herring: and the rivers and lakes 
with pike, jvrch, carp, trench, &c. 



AMERICA GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 39 

It is worthy of observation, as exhibiting the wisdom and 
goodness of the Creator, that all the animals of this north- 
ern country are clothed with a close, soft, warm fur. In 
summer there is a variety in the colors of several of the 
animals. When that season is over, they all assume the 
livery of winter, and every sort of beast, and most of their 
fowls, are of the color of the snow; everything animate and 
inanimate is white. This is a surprising phenomenon, but 
it is yet more surprising that dogs and cats which have been 
carried to Hudson's Bay, on the approach of winter havo 
entirely changed their appearance, and acquired a much 
longer, softer and thicker coat of hair than they had origi- 
wily. 

There are an abundance of minerals of different sorts — 
iron, lead and copper; there are likewise a great variety of 
marble, talcs, spars, and rock-crystals of different colors. 
In the extreme north there is a substance that burns and 
somewhat resembles coal. The asbestas, or stone-flax, is 
common here, and a stone, of a black, smooth and shining 
surface, that separates easily in thin transparent leaves, 
resembling the Muscovy talc, which the natives use as look- 
ing-glasses. 

The inhabitants of the eastern section of the British pos- 
sessions, north of the Canadas, are Indians. They are of a 
middle size, copper-coloured, with black eyes, and long, lank, 
black hair. In their shapes and faces they bear little or no 
resemblance to the Indians who live to the south and west- 
ward. The women in general are not attractive, though 
there are some, when from thirteen to sixteen years of age, 
who are not without personal charms. Hard fare, however, 
and hard labor, added to a rigorous climate, soon render 
them wrinkled ; and they have all the marks of decrepitude 
before they are thirty. These Indians are of a cheerful dis- 
position, good-natured and friendly, and are honest in their 
dealings. The men wear in summer a loose coat or blanket, 



40 THE HISTORICAL CABINET. 

which they buy either of the French or English here set- 
tled; a pair of leathern stockings, which come so high as to 
serve them for breeches, and shoes of the same material. 
The women's dress is the same, except that in winter they 
wear a petticoat that reaches below the knee. Their ordi- 
nary apparel is made of skins, with the hair outward J the 
sleeves of their upper habit are separate from the body of 
it, and taken off at pleasure, being only tied with strings at 
the shoulders ; so that the arm-pits, even in the depth of 
winter, are exposed to the cold, which they conceive contri- 
butes to health. Their diseases are few, chiefly arising 
from colds taken after drinking spirituous liquors, which 
they buy from the English and French. 

They dwell in circular tents, covered with skins sewed 
together. They are formed of poles, which are extended at 
the bottom and at the top lean to the centre, where an open- 
ing is left to admit the light and let out the smoke from the 
fire, which is built in the middle and around which they sit 
and lie. 

These people do not depend for subsistence on the fruits 
of the earth, but live entirely on the animals they take in 
hunting, or catch in traps. They also live upon birds and 
fish. They do not live together in great numbers, but 
change their habitations according to the plenty or scarcity 
of the game. They have no body of laws to regulate their 
conduct, and may truly be called a free people. They have 
generally a plurality of wives. The chief pride of these 
Indians is to have a wife of strength rather than beauty. 
That a plurality of wives should exist among these tribes is 
not to be wondered at, as it is to be considered they are the 
greatest travellers on earth; and, as they have neither beast 
or burden, except some few dogs which draw their sledges, 
every good hunter is obliged to have some person to carry 
his furs to market; and none are so well adapted for this 
work as the women, who are inured to carry and heave 



AMERICA— GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 41 

heavy loads from their very childhood ; so that ho who is capa- 
ble of providing for three or four wives is considered a great 
man. Jealousies, hoy/ever, sometimes appear among them, 
but the disputes soon end, as the husband's commands must 
be obeyed. 

Though the northern Indian women are the mildest and 
most virtuous of the North American natives, it is no unu- 
sual thing for their husbands to change beds with each other 
for a night. This, strange to say, brings no disgrace j but 
on the contrary is considered as the strongest cement of 
friendship between families ; and in case of the death of 
either of the men, the other feels himself bound to support 
the children of the deceased, and is never known to .swerve 
from the duty of a parent. Though the northern Indians 
make no scruple of having three or four sisters for wives at 
the same time, yet they are very particular in observing a 
proper distance in the consanguinity of those whom they ad- 
mit to their beds. The wives are kept at a great distance. 
They perform the most laborious offices, and yet the meanest 
male in the family must be satisfied before the wife is per- 
mitted to taste a bit; and, in times of scarcity, they fre- 
quently go without a single morsel. Should they attempt 
to serve themselves in secret, it must be done with great cau- 
tion, as a detection would subject them to a severe beating 
at least. An embezzelment of provisions would be a blot in 
their character, which it would be difficult to efface. Time 
immemorial, it has been the custom among these people to 
wrestle for the woman to whom they are attached.; and, of 
course, the strongest carries off the prize. Indeed, without 
a considerable share of bodily strength, or some natural or 
acquired consequence, it is seldom permitted to keep a wife, 
whom a stronger man thinks worth his notice, or whom he 
wants to assist in carrying his goods. This savage and un- 
natural custom prevails throughout all their tribes, and ex- 
cites a spirit of emulation among youth to distinguish them- 
4* 



42 THE HISTORICAL CABINET. 

selves in gymnastic exercises, to enable them to protect their 
wives arid property. 

The manner in which they tear the women and other 
property from each other, is not so much by fighting, as by 
hauling each other by the hair of the head. Seldom any 
hurt is done in these rencountres. Before the contest be- 
gins, it is not unusual for one or both the combattants to cut 
off his hair and grease his ears in private. If one only is 
shorn, though he be the weakest man, he generally obtains 
the victory j so that it is evident, address will ever exceed 
mere strength among all nations. 

The by-standers never interfere on these occasions ; not 
even the nearest relations, except by advice to pursue or 
abandon the contest. Scarcely a day passes without some 
overtures being made for contests of this kind, and the wife 
often sits in pensive silence, awaiting the termination of the 
combat which is to decide her fate. Sometimes a woman 
happens to be won by a man whom she mortally hates ; but 
even in this case she must be passive, should she at the same 
time be torn from a man she really loves. It is generally, 
however, very young, girlish wives, without children, who 
thus frequently change masters, for few husbands are fond 
of maintaining the children of others. Some of the aged, 
particularly if they have the reputation of being conjurors, 
possess great influence over the rabble, and sometimes pre- 
vent such irregularities. As far, indeed, as their own family 
and connexions are concerned, they will exert their utmost 
influence; but when their own relations are guilty of 
unfaithfulness to their husbands or wives, they seldom in- 
terfere. This partial conduct creates them secret as well as 
open enemies; but fear or superstition prevents the ebulli- 
tions of revenge. 

Unprincipled and savage as the northern Indians may ap- 
pear, in robbing each other of their wives, they are naturally 
mild, and seldom carry their enmity farther than wrestling. 



AMERICA— GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 43 

A murder is seldom heard of among them ; and the perpe- 
trator of such a horrid crime is sure to experience the fate 
of Cain ; he is a wanderer, and becomes forlorn and forsaken, 
even by his own relations and former friends. 

They have a maxim of policy which is very singular; 
that of suffering, or rather obliging, their women to procure 
frequent abortions, by the use of a certain herb, that they 
may in some measure, be eased of that heavy burden they 
feel in providing for a helpless family. Yet there affection 
for their children is singularly great. The natives of the 
extreme northern parts have, a horrid custom of waging per- 
petual war on their southern neighbors, the Esquimaux. 
These latter live farther south and are free from many of 
the vices of their northern neighbors, who, in addition to 
what has already been noted, have another custom that must 
appear shocking to every humane mind. These wretches 
strangle their parents when laboring under the infirmities 
of old age. This is done in the following manner : The old 
person's grave being dug, he goes into it, and, after having 
conversed and smoked his pipe, or, perhaps, drank a dram 
or two with his children, he informs them that he is ready ; 
upon which two of them put a thong around his neck, one 
standing on one side, and the other opposite to him, which 
they pull violently till he expires; they then cover him 
with earth and erect over him a kind of rough monument of 
stones. Such old people as have no children, require this 
office of their friends ; but in this case it is not often com- 
plied with. 

Little knowledge has been obtained concerning the relig- 
ion of these people ; but it appears that their notions of it 
are of a very limited and imperfect character. Areskoui, or 
the god of battle, is revered as the great god of the Indians. 
Like all rude nations they are strongly addicted to supersti- 
tion. 

The fur and peltry trade is carried on with these Indians 



41 THE HISTORICAL CABINET. 

to a great extent by the Hudson's Bay Company, who have 
six or eight forts throughout the country, at which places 
the bartering is carried on. The canoe and sledge are the 
only means of conveyance in the country, the former used 
in summer to ford creeks and lakes, and the latter during 
the winter months. They are drawn by dogs who are trained 
for the purpose. 

The language these people speak is somewhat guttural in 
the pronunciation, but not harsh or unpleasant. 

There are many other tribes of Indians scattered through- 
out the British Possessions, among which may be mentioned 
the Copper Indians, who reside near the Copper river; the 
Esquimaux, dwelling to the east and south of Hudson's 
Bay, and many others, more savage in their nature than 
those already described, are living on the rugged shores of 
the North Pacific ocean. No particular description of these 
various tribes would repay its perusal, as the character of 
the Indian is altogether founded upon his circumstances and 
way of life. They arc either constantly employed in pro- 
curing the means of a precarious subsistence, or engaged in 
perpetual wars with each other. They do not enjoy much 
gaiety of temper or high flow of spirits. The Indians, there- 
fore, are, in general, grave even to sadness; they have noth- 
ing of that giddy vivacity peculiar to most civilized nations. 
Cities and towns, which are the effects of agriculture and the 
arts, they have none. The tribes live at great distances 
from each other; they are seperated by a desert frontier and 
hid in the bosom of almost impenetrable and boundless 
forests. 

We shall now advert to that portion of the North "West 
territory of North America, known as Prince William's 
sound, situated in latitude 59 degrees and 33 seconds north, 
together with a description of its inhabitants, their manners, 
customs, &c. 

The natives in general are not above the common height, 



AMERICA — GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 45 

though many of them are under it. They are square, 
strong-chested, and the most disproportioned part of their 
body is their heads, which are very large, with thick, short 
necks, and large, broad or spreading faces, which, upon the 
whole, are flat. Their eyes, though not small, scarcely bear 
a proportion to the size of their faces, and their noses have 
full, round points, hooked or turned up at the tip. Their 
teeth are broad, white, equal in size, and evenly set. Their 
hair is black, thick, straight and strong, and their beards, 
in general thin, or wanting; but the hairs about the lips 
of those who have them, are stiff and bristly, and frequently 
of a brown color; and several of the elderly men have large 
and thick, but straight beards. Though in general they 
agree in the make of their persons and largeness of their 
heads, there is a considerable variety in their features ; but 
very few can be said to be of the handsome sort, though 
their countenances commonly indicate a considerable share 
of vivacity, good nature and frankness ; and yet some of 
them have an air of sullenncss and reserve. Some of the 
women have agreeable faces, and many are easily distin- 
guishable from the men by their features, which are more 
delicate; but this should be understood chiefly of the 
youngest sort, or middle-aged. The complexion of some of 
the women, and of the children, is white, but without any mix- 
ture of red ; and some of the men have rather a brownish or 
swarthy cast, which can scarcely be the effect of any stain, 
for they do not paint their bodies. These people are in 
general, friendly, and remarkably tender and affectionate to 
their women and children. It must be admitted that they 
are addicted to thieving, which seems common to Indians in 
general. 

Their common dress (for men, women and children, are 
clothed alike,) is a kind of close frock, or rather robe, reach- 
ing generally to the knees, and sometimes to the ankles. 
At the upper part is a hole just sufficient to admit the head, 



46 Tlffl HISTORICAL CABINET. 

with sleeves that reach to the wrist. These frocks areniade 
of the skins of different animals, the most common of which 
are those of the sea-otter, grey fox, raccoon and pine martin, 
with many of seal skins ; and generally they are worn with 
the hair side outward. Some also have these frocks made 
of the skins of fowls, with only the down remaining on 
them, which they glue on other substances. At the seams, 
where the different skins are sewed together, they are com- 
ni©n!y ornamented with tassels or fringes of narrow thongs, 
cut out of the same skins. A few have a kind of cape or 
collar, and some a hood, but the other is the most common 
form, and seems to be their whole dress in good weather. 
When it rains they put over this another frock, ingeniously 
made from the intestines of whales, or some other large ani- 
mal, prepared so skilfully, as almost to resemble gold- 
beater's leaf. It is made to draw quite tight around the 
neck; its sleeves reach as low as the wrist, round which 
they are tied with a string. This frock must be kept con- 
tinually moist or wet, otherwise it is apt to crack or break. 
This, as well a's the common frock made of skins, bears a 
great resemblance to the dress of the inhabitants of Green- 
land. In general they do not cover their legs or feet, but 
a few have a kind of skin stockings, which reach half way 
up the thigh; and scarcely any of them are without mittens 
for the hands, made of the skins of bears' paws. Those 
who wear anything on their heads have high truncated conic 
caps, made of straw, and sometimes of wood, resembling a 
seal's head, well painted. The men commonly wear the 
hair cropped round the neck and forehead, but the women 
allow it to grow long, and most of them tie a small lock of 
it on the crown, or a few of them club it behind in the 
civilized manner. Both sexes have the ears perforated with 
several holes, about the outer and lower part of the edge, 
in which they hang little bunches of beads, of a tubulous, 
shelly substance. The scjilum of the nose is also perforated, 



AMERICA — GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 47 

through which they frequently thrust the quill feathers of 
little birds, or small bending ornaments, made of the above 
shelly substance, strung on a stiff string or cord, three or 
four inches long, which give them a truly grotesque appear- 
ance. But the most uncommon and unsightly ornamental 
fashion, adopted by some of both sexes, is their having their 
tinder lip slit, or cut, quite through, in the direction of the 
mouth, a little below the swelling part. This incision, 
which is made even in the sucking children, is often above 
two inches long, and either by its natural retraction when 
the wound is fresh, or by the repetition of some artificial 
management, assumes the true shape of lips, and becomes 
so large as to admit the tongue through. In this artificial 
mouth they stick a flat, narrow ornament, made chiefly out 
of a solid shell or bone, cut into little, narrow pieces, like 
small teeth, almost down to the base or thickest part, which 
has a small rejecting bit at each end, that supports it when 
put into the divided lip, the cut part then appearing out- 
ward. Others have the lower lip only perforated into sepa- 
rate holes, and then the ornament consists of as many dis- 
tinct shelly studs, whose points are pushed through these 
holes, and their beads appear within the lip, as another row 
of teeth immediately below their own. 

These are the native ornaments, but many beads of Euro- 
pean manufacture are found among them, chiefly of a pale 
blue color, which they hang in their ears, about their caps, 
or join to their lip-ornaments, which have a small hole 
drilled in each point to which they arc fastened, and others 
to them, till they hang sometimes as low as the chin. But 
in this last case, they cannot remove them so easily; for, as 
to their own lip-ornaments, they can take tbom out with 
their tongue, or suck them within at pleasure. They also 
wear bracelets of the shelly beads, or others of a cylindrical 
shape, made of a substance like amber, with such also as 
are used in their cars and nose. The men frequently paint 



48 THE HISTORICAL CABINET. 

their faces of a bright red and of a black color, and some- 
times of a blue or leaden color, but not to any regular figure, 
and the women in some measure, endeavor to imitate them, 
by puncturing or staining the skin with black, that comes 
to a point in each cheek, a practice very similar to that 
which is in vogue among the Greenlanders. Their bodies 
are not painted, which is owing probably to the scarcity of 
materials. Upon the whole no savages take more pains 
than fchese people do to ornament, or rather to disfigure, their 
persons. 

Their habitations are ill-made and inconvenient; they are 
in general, from four to six feet high, about ten feet long, 
and about eight feet broad, built with thick planks and the 
crevices filled up with dry moss. The method they use in 
making the plank is to split the trees with wooden or stone 
wedges. 

Their articles of food are fish and animals of all kinds. 
They also eat the vegetables which their country affords, 
and the inner bark of the pine tree, which is an excellent 
antidote for the scurvy, which prevails in this section of the 
country very much. Their drink is water. In their boats 
have been seen snow in wooden vessels, which they swallowed 
by mouthfulls. Perhaps it could be carried in these open 
vessels with less trouble than water. Their method of eat- 
ing is decent and cleanly ; for they always take care to sep- 
arate any dirt that may adhere to their victuals ; and though 
they sometimes do eat the raw fat of some sea animals, they 
cut it carefully into mouthfulls, with their small knives. 
The same may be said of their persons, which are always 
clean and decent, without grease or dirt ; and the wooden 
vessels, in which their victuals are placed are kept in excellent 
order; their boats, also, are neat and free from lumber. 
These latter are of two sorts, the one being large and open 
and the other small and covered. 

The weapons and instruments for fishing and hunting are 



AMERICA — GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 49 

the same as made use of by the Indians on the eastern coast 
of North America. For defensive armor they have a kind 
of jacket or coat of mail made of thin laths, hound together 
with sinews, which makes it quite flexible, though so close 
as not to admit an arrow or dart. It only covers the trunk 
of the body, and may not be improperly compared to a 
woman's stays. 

Of domestic utensils they have oval shallow dishes of 
wood, and others of a cylindrical shape, much deeper; the 
sides are made of one piece, bent round, like chip boxes, 
though thick, neatly fastened with thongs, and the bottoms 
fixed in with small wooden pegs; others are smaller and of 
a more elegant shape, somewhat resembling a large oval 
butter-plate. These are sometimes handsomely carved, and 
are made from wood, or a horny substance. They have 
many little square bags, made of the same material as their 
outer frocks, neatly ornamented with many minute red 
feathers interwoven with it, in which are contained some 
very fine sinews and bundles of small cord, made from them, 
and most ingeniously plaited ; they also have checkered 
baskets, so closely wrought as to hold water; wooden models 
of their canoes; little images, four or five inches long, 
either of wood, or stuffed, which are covered with a bit of 
fur, and ornamented with pieces of small quill feathers, in 
imitation of their shelly beads, with hair fixed on their heads. 
Whether these might be mere toys for children, or held in 
veneration as representing their deceased friends, and applied 
to some superstitious purpose, has never been ascertained. 
They have instruments made of two or three hoops, or con- 
centric pieces of wood, with a cross-bar fixed in the middle, 
to hold them by ; to these are fixed a great number of 
barnacle shells, with threads, which serve as a rattle and 
make a loud noise when they shake them. 

With what tools they make their wooden utensils, frames 
of boats, and other things is uncertain j as the only one seen 
5 



50 THE HISTORICAL CABINET. 

amongst them by those who have visited them was a kind 
of stone adze. They have iron knives, some of which are 
straight, others a little curved, and seme very small ones 
fixed in long handles, with the blades bent upward, like 
some of the instruments used by shoemakers; they have 
knives of another sort, which are sometimes near two feet 
long, shaped almost like a dagger, with a ridge in the mid- 
dle. These thej wear in sheaths of skin, hung by a thong 
around their neck, under their robe; and they are, proba- 
bly, only used as weapons, the other knives being appa- 
rently applied to other purposes. Everything they have, 
however, is as well and as ingeniously made as if they were 
furnished with the most complete tool-chest ; and their sew- 
ing, plaiting of sinews, and small work on their little bags, 
may be put in competition with the most delicate manufac- 
tures found in any part of the known world : in short, con- 
sidering the otherwise uncivilized or rude state in which 
these people are, their northern situation, amidst a country 
perpetually covered with snow, and the wretched materials 
they have to work with, it appears that their invention and 
dexterity, in all manual works, is at least equal to that of any 
other nation. 

Their language -seems difficult to be understood at first; 
not from any indistinctness or confusion in their words or 
sounds, but from the various significations they have; for 
they appear to use the very same word frequently on differ- 
ent occasions. 

In their songs these natives keep the most exact concert; 
they are often sung by great numbers together. They are, 
generally, slow and solemn ; but the music is not of that 
confined sort found amongst many rude nations, for the va- 
riations are very numerous and expressive, and the cadence, 
or melody, powerfully soothing. Besides their full concerts, 
sonnets of the same grave cast are frequently sung by single 
performers, who keep time by striking the hand against the 



AMERICA— -GEXERAL DESCRIPTION. 51 

tliigh. But the music is sometimes varied from its pre- 
dominant solemnity of air, and there are instances of stan- 
zas being suDg in. a more gay and lively strain, with a de- 
gree of humor. The only instruments of music, (if such 
they may be called) are a rattle and a small whistle, about 
an inch long, incapable of any variation, having but one 
hole. They use the rattle when they sing, but upon what 
occasions they use the whistle could not be determined, un- 
less it be when they dress themselves like particular animals, 
and endeavor to imitate their howl or cry. One of them 
was seen dressed in a wolfs skin, with the head over his 
own, and imitating that animal, by making a squeaking noise 
with one of these whistles, which he had in his mouth. Their 
rattles are, for the most part, made in the shape of a bird, 
with a few pebbles in the belly, and the tail is the handle. 
They have others that bear a resemblance to a child's rattle. 

Their furniture consists chiefly of a great number of 
boxes and chests of all sizes, which are generally piled upon 
each other, close to the sides or ends of the house, and con- 
tain their spare garments, skins and other things which they 
set value upon. Some of these chests are double, or one 
covers the other as a lid ; others have a lid fastened with 
thongs; and some of the very large ones have a square hole, 
or scuttle, cut in the upper part, by which the things are 
put in and taken out. They are often painted black, stud- 
ded with the teeth of different animals, or carved with a kind 
of freeze-work, and figures of birds and animals as decora- 
tions. Their fishing implements, and other things, lie or 
hang up in different parts of the house, but without the least 
order, so that the whole is a complete scene of confusion ; 
and the only places that do not partake of this confusion are 
the sleeping benches, that have nothing on them but the 
mats, which are also cleaner, and of a finer sort than those 
they commonly have to sit on in their boats. 

The chief employment of the men seems to be that of 



52 THE HISTORICAL CABINET. 

fishing, and killing land and sea animals, for the sustenance 
of their families. The women are occupied in manufactur- 
ing their garments, and are also sent occasionally in the ca- 
noes to fish ; these boats they manage with as much dexterity 
as the men, who, when in the canoes with them, seem to pay 
little attention to their sex, by offering to relieve them from 
the labor of the paddle. The young men seem to be the 
most indolent and idle set in this community ; for they are 
observed either sitting about in scattered companies, basking 
themselves in the sun, or laying wallowing in the sand upon 
the beach, like a number of hogs for. the same purpose with- 
out any covering. But this disregard of decency is alone 
confined to the men. The women are always properly clothed, 
and behave with the utmost propriety, justly deserving all 
commendation for a bashfulness and modesty becoming their 
sex, but more meritorious in them, as the men seem to have 
no shame. 

These people bury their dead on the summits of hills, and 
raise a little hillock over the grave. One of these graves 
was seen by the side of a road leading from a village to the 
harbor, over which was raised a heap of stones. It was ob- 
served that every native who passed it added one to it. 
Some of those graves are of great antiquity. What their 
notions are of a Deity and future state is not known. 

The natives are subject to cancer, or a complaint like it, 
which those whom it attacks are very careful to conceal. 
They do not seem to be long-lived. No man or woman was 
seen who could be taken for over fifty years of age. Prob- 
ably their hard way of living may be the means of shorten- 
ing their lives. 

The only fish are torsk and halibut, and a purple star-fish. 
The rocks are almost destitute of shell-fish, and the only 
animal seen of this kind is a sort of red crab, covered with 
spines of a very large size. 

The metals are copper and iron ; both of which, particu- 



AMERICA — GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 53 

larly the latter, are in such plenty, as to constitute the points 
of most of the arrows and lances. The ores with which the 
natives paint themselves, are a red brittle, unctuous ochre, 
or iron ore, not much unlike cinnabar in colour ; a bright 
blue pigment, and black lead. Each of these are very 
scarce. 

Canada, which is the south-eastern portion of the British 
possessions in America, is bounded on the north and east by 
Nova Scotia, on the south by the New England States and 
New York, and on the west by lands of which but little is 
known. Though the climate is cold, and the winters long 
and tedious, the soil in general is good, and in many parts 
very fertile. There are many rivers branching through this 
country, among which may be mentioned the Outtauais, the 
St. John, Saguinay, Despraires and Trois Rivieres ; but they 
are all swallowed up by the great St. Lawrence. This river 
takes its rise in Lake Ontario, and, taking its course north- 
east, washes Montreal, where it receives the Outtauais, and 
forms many fertile islands. It continues the same course 
and meets the tide upwards of four hundred miles from the 
sea, where it is navigable for large vessels; and below Que- 
bec, three hundred and twenty miles from the sea, it becomes 
broad and so deep that the largest class of ships-of-the-line 
are able to navigate it. It was on the banks of this river 
that the French commenced settlements many years ago. 
Their descendants are now subjects of Great Britain — the 
province of Canada having been ceded to the English by the 
French in the treaty ratified the 10th of February, 1763, in 
which said treaty the English obtained the islands of New- 
foundland, Cape Breton, and St. John, besides much terri- 
tory in the southern portion of the continent which now 
belongs to the United States. There are five la^es border- 
ing on the Canadas, as follows : Lake Superior, which con- 
tains many islands, is the largest, being five hundred leagues 
in circuit; Lakes Eric, Ontario, Huron, and Michigan, 
5* 



54 THE HISTORICAL CABINET. 

All these are navigable, and they all communicate with one 
another. The river St. Lawrence is the outlet of these lakes, 
by which they discharge themselves into the ocean. 

The uncultivated parts of North America contain the 
greatest forests in the world. They are a continued wood, 
not planted by the hand of man, and in all appearance as 
old as the world itself. Nothing is more magnificent to the 
sight; the trees lose themselves in the clouds; and there is 
such a prodigious variety of species, that even among those 
persons who have taken the most pains to describe them, 
there is not one, perhaps, who knows half the variety. 
Canada produces a large number. It also abounds in stags, 
elks, deer, bears, foxes, wild-cats, ferretts, weasels, squirrels, 
rabbits, hares, &c. In the south-western portions are wild 
bulls, roe-bucks, goats, &c. The marshes, lakes and pools 
swarm with beavers. Besides a great variety of other fish 
in the lakes and rivers, there are various kinds of seals, by 
some called sea-cows, sea-dogs and sea-wolves. Their skins 
make excellent covers for trunks. Rattlesnakes abound in 
large numbers and grow to an enormous size. Near Quebec 
is a rich lead mine, and there are also numerous coal mines. 

Canada is divided into two parts — Upper and Lower 
Canada; the former being the western division on the north 
of the great lakes ; while the lower division is on the river 
St. Lawrence, towards the east. The principal cities are 
Quebec, Montreal, Kingston and Toronto. There are many 
other villages and towns throughout the provinces, but they 
are not of sufficient importance to allude to in this work. 

The inhabitants of the Canadas are generally French and 
English, interspersed with Yankees from the United States. 
There are many half-breeds throughout the country — the 
offspring of those French who married among the Indians. 
The Canadas are governed by a legislative council and as- 
sembly. The governor-general is appointed by the head of 



AMERICA — GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 55 

the British government. This governor-general is com- 
mander-in-chief of all the British forces in North America. 

The nature of the climate, Uting very cold, prevents the 
commerce and manufactures of Canada from increasing in 
as rapid a ratio as that of the United States, but still her 
imports and exports are very heavy. The religion most 
prevailing in Canada is that of the Roman Catholic; but 
there are many who worship differently. 

Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and the other North Ameri- 
can provinces belonging to Great Britain, partake so much 
of the same character as the Canadas, that it is needless to 
give any description of them. There are many bays, seas, 
capes and rivers within their boundaries ; and various cities, 
towns and villages ; but if we except the city of Halifax, 
none of the latter deserve any particular notice at our 
hands. From such an unfavorable climate, but little in the 
way of agricultural products is expected. The country is 
not deficient in animals. At the close of March the fish 
begin to spawn, when they enter the rivers in such shoals as 
are almost incredible. Herrings come up in April, and sal- 
mon and sturgeon in May. But the most valuable is the 
cod-fishing banks of Newfoundland. There are probably 
five thousand sail of vessels employed in the business of 
taking the fish ; and the number of persons employed in 
curing and packing, is computed at thirty-five thousand. 

Without designing to give any account of the political 
history of that portion of North America which lies to the 
south of the United States' boundaries, including the re- 
public of Mexico and the countries southward of it to the 
Isthmus of Darien, some general remarks will be given 
relative to the soil, climate, manners, customs, and ceremo- 
nies of the inhabitants, &c. 

The country is excessively hot, and on the eastern coast, 
where the land is low, marshy, and constantly flooded in the 
rainy seasons, it is likewise extremely unwholesome. The 



56 THE HISTORICAL CABINET. 

inland territory, however, assumes a better aspect, and the 
air is of a milder temperature ; on the western side the land 
is not so low as on the eastern, much better in quality and 
well covered with plantations. The soil of Mexico in general 
is of a good variety, and would not refuse any sort of grain, 
were the industry of the inhabitants to correspond with their 
natural advantages. No country under heaven abounds more 
with grain, delicious fruits, roots and vegetables, many of 
which are peculiar to it, or at least to this southern section of 
North America. Of these the most remarkable are bam- 
boos, mangroves and logwood, which grow on the coasts ; 
red and white cotton trees, cedars, blood-wood, and maho, 
of which the natives make ropes and cables ; light-wood, of 
which they make floats, being as light as cork; white-wood, 
the cabbage-tree, the banilla, plantains, bananas, pine- 
apples, pomegranates, oranges, lemons, sapodillo, avogato 
pear, niammee, mammee-sapota, grape, pickle, bibby, and 
other curious fruit-trees ; besides which the Spaniards intro- 
duced most kinds of other fruits. This country also pro- 
duces the poisonous machined apple, gourds of a prodigious 
size, melons, silk-grass, tamarinds and locust-trees; the 
little black, white, and borachio-sapota trees, the last of 
which takes its name from the inebriating quality of its 
fruit. To these may be added the Greuadillo de China, 
creeping-plant, and the inayhey, which furnished the early 
natives with thread for linen and cordage; and also a bal- 
sam and liquor, which, when fermented, is as pleasant and 
strong as wine. This is called Pulque. The cocoa, of 
which chocolate is made, grows on a tree of midling size, 
which bears a pod about the size and shape of a cucumber, 
containing the cocoa. The commerce in this single article 
alone is immense ; and such is the general consumption, as 
well as the external call for it, that a small garden of cocoa 
trees has yielded its owner one hundred thousand dollars 
per year. It formerly made a principal portion of the 



AMERICA — GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 57 

Datives' diet, being considered wholesome, nutricious and 
suited to the climate. In Yucatan, a large peninsula in the 
gulf of Mexico, the Spaniards first discovered that well 
known plant tobacco, growing wild. This was in the year 
1520. 

The plant called opuntia is of inestimable value, as the 
species of insects called the gall insects, adhere to it, and 
suck the juice of the fruit, which is of a crimson color. It 
is from this juice that the cochineal derives its value, which 
consists in dyeing all sorts of the finest scarlet, purple and 
crimson. It is also used in medicine as a sudorific, and as 
a cordial; and it is estimated that over a million pounds' 
weight are annually exported for the purposes of medicine 
and dyeing. There are other valuable productions, such as 
copal, liquid amber, oil of amber, &c. 

There are great ' numbers of animals of different species; 
and numerous kinds of birds and fish. What is considered 
the chief glory of this country, and what first induced the 
Spaniards to form settlements in it, was its numerous mines 
of gold and silver, which are found in several parts. The 
mines of both kinds are invariably found in the most barren 
regions. 

The present inhabitants of this portion of North America 
are a mixed people, composed of native Indians, Negroes, 
Spaniards, Americans, French, English, etc. The descend- 
ants of the Negroes and Indians ; and Indians, French, 
Spaniards and English, are divided and distinguished by 
various names, such as Mestizzoes, Creoles, Terceroons, Quar- 
teroons, &c. 

The Mexicans, and those people inhabiting this part of 
the continent, are, in common, of good stature, and well pro- 
portioned form. Their complexion is a deep olive. They 
have narrow foreheads, black eyes ; firm, regular teeth ; 
coarse, glossy hair ; thin beards, and generally no hair on 
their legs and arms, Some tribes look upon flat noses as a 



58 THE HISTORICAL CABINET. 

great beauty. In general these people have their ears, necks 
and arms adorned with pearls and other jewels, or trinkets 
made of gold, silver or other metals. 

There are not many deformed persons in this section of 
America. It would be difficult to find as many hump- 
backed and squint-eyed people among a thousand of them, 
as could be found in five hundred of any other nation. 
When their personal defects and excellencies are poised im- 
partially, they can neither be called very beautiful, or the 
contrary ; but seem to hold a middle place between the ex- 
tremes. Their appearance neither engages or disgusts. 
Among the young girls there are many highly attractive, 
from the union of accomplishments, personal and mental. 
Their senses in general are acute, but particularly so that of 
sight, which they enjoy to a great age unimpaired. Their 
constitutions are robust, and they are free from many of the 
disorders common to other nations; but to the epidemical 
diseases to which their country is occasionally subjected, 
they fall the principal victims : with them these diseases 
begin and with them they end. They are rarely affected 
with that nauseousness of breath which is occasioned in 
other people by the corruption of the humors or indigestion. 
They become grey-headed and bald earlier than their con- 
querors, the Spaniards, and although most of them die of 
acute diseases, yet they sometimes attain the age of one 
hundred years. The Creoles of Mexico have nearly all the 
bad qualities of the Spaniards, from whom they are des- 
cended, without that firmness, courage and patience which 
constitute the praise-worthy part of the Spanish character. 
Naturally weak and effeminate, they dedicate the greatest 
part of their lives to loitering and inactive pleasures. Luxu- 
rious without variety or elegance, and expensive with great 
parade and little convenience, their general character is no 
more than a grave insignificance. From idleness and their 
constitution, their whole business is amour and intrigue ; 



AMERICA — GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 59 

and their ladies, of consequence, are not at all distinguished 
for their chastity and domestic virtues. The Indians, who, 
notwithstanding the devastations of the first invaders, re- 
main in great numbers, are become, by continual oppression 
and indignity, a dejected, timorous and miserable race of 
mortals. The blacks here, like those in other parts of the 
world, are hardy, stubborn, and as well adapted for the gross 
slavery they endure as any other creatures can be. Their 
passion for strong liquors is carried to the greatest extent, 
which exposes them to all the baneful impressions of disease, 
and is, undoubtedly, one of the principal causes of the 
havoc made among them by epidemical disorders. They 
are moderate in eating, however. The respect paid by pa- 
rents to their children, and by the young to the old, seems 
to arise from congenial principles. Parents are very fond 
of their offspring, but the affection which husbands bear to 
their wives is certainly less than that borne by wives to their 
husbands. 

The sacrifices of the Mexicans, previous to their conquest 
by the Spaniards, were various and horrid beyond expres- 
sion. In general the victims suffered death by having their 
breasts opened; sometimes they were drowned in a lake; 
sometimes they died with hunger shut up in caverns of the 
mountains ; and sometimes they fell in what was called 
the Gladiatorian sacrifice. The place for the performance of 
the common sacrifice was the temple, in the upper area of 
which stood the altar. The ministers were the priests, the 
chief of whom, on such occasions, was clothed in a red habit 
fringed with cotton. On his head he wore a crown of 
green and yellow- feathers. The other ministers, which 
were five in number, were dressed in habits of the same 
make, but embroidered with black, and their bodies were 
dyed all over with the same color. These barbarous minis- 
ters carried the victim naked to the upper area of the 
temple, and having pointed out to the by-standers the idol 



60 THE HISTORICAL CABINET. 

for whom the sacrifice was made, extended him upon the 
altar. Four priests held his arms and legs, and another 
kept his head firm with a wooden instrument made in the 
form of a coiled serpent, and put about his neck. The body 
of the victim lay arched, the breast and belly being raised 
up and totally prevented from moving. The inhuman chief 
priest then approached, and with a cutting-knife made of 
flint, dexterously opened the breast and tore out the heart, 
which, while yet palpitating, he offered to the sun," and af- 
terwards threw it at the feet of the idol : he then took it up 
and burnt it, and the ashes were preserved as a precious 
relic. If the idol was of large size and hollow form, it was 
customary to introduce the heart of the victim into its mouth 
with a golden spoon. It was usual also to anoint the lips 
of the idol, and the door cornices of the temple with the 
blood of the victim. If the victim was a prisoner of war 
they severed the head from the body, to preserve the skull. 
The body was carried by the officer, or soldier, to whom the 
prisoner had belonged, to his house, to be boiled and dressed 
for the entertainment of his friends. If he was not a pris- 
oner of war, but a slave purchased for sacrifice, the proprie- 
tor carried off the body for the same purpose. They eat 
only the legs, thighs and arms, burning the rest or preserv- 
ing it for food for wild beasts or birds of prey. Some 
sects among them, having slain the victim, tore the body in 
pieces, which they sold at market. Others sacrificed men 
to their gods, women to their goddesses, and children to the 
inferior deities. This was the most common mode of sacri- 
fice : there were others less frequent; such as putting the 
victims to death by fire, drowning children of both sexes in 
the lake, shutting them up in a cavern and letting them per- 
ish with fear and hunger. 

The principal sacrifice among the ancient Mexicans was 
that called by the Spaniards the Gladiatorian. This was an 
honorable death, and only prisoners distinguished by their 



AMERICA — GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 61 

valor were permitted to die by it. The prisoner was placed 
on a stone in a conspicuous part of the city, armed with a 
shield and a short sword, and tied by one foot. A Mexican 
officer, or soldier better armed, mounted the stone to combat 
with him. If the prisoner was vanquished, he was carried 
by a priest, dead or alive, to the altar of the common sacri- 
fices, where his breast was opened, and his heart taken out, 
while the victor was applauded and rewarded with some 
military honor. If the prisoner conquered six different 
combatants, who successively engaged him, be was granted 
his life, his liberty, and dismissed with honor to his native 
country. 

At the present day no religion is tolerated in these coun- 
tries save the Roman Catholic. The clergy is extremely 
numerous, and it has been computed that priests, monks and 
nuns, of all orders, make up full one-fifth of the white popu- 
lation. The people are superstitious, ignorant, rich, lazy 
and licentious; with such material to work upon, it is not 
remarkable that the church enjoys one-fourth of the reve- 
nues of the republic. 

There are many causes which affect the population of this 
country. The small-pox is here remarkably fatal ; and a 
disease called the blaqk vomito, acts, at intervals, with the 
ravages of the pestilence. The number of priests, monks, 
and nuns, is also injurious to population, though it appears, 
on the whole, to have greatly increased. In 1612, the popu- 
lation of all this territory was computed at 150,000 only; 
now it is estimated at 15,000,000. 

The principal city at present is Mexico. It is built upon 
a fen, near the banks of a lake, and crossed by numerous 
canals, the houses being founded on piles. The streets are 
wide and straight, but very dirty ; the houses are tolerably 
built. The principal buildings are the palace, churches and 
convents, which are richly ornamented. The grand cathe- 
dral is magnificent ; the railing round the altar is of solid 
6 



62 THE HISTORICAL CABINET. 

silver, and there is a silver lamp so capacious that three men 
can get into it. It is also enriched with lions' heads and 
other ornaments of pure gold. The images of the Virgin 
JVtary, and other Saints, are either of solid gold or silver, or 
covered with precious stones. The city has several splendid 
squares, in one of which there is a beautiful fountain. 
There is also a charming walk called the Alameda. A 
rivulet runs all round it, and forms a pretty large square, 
with a basin and a jet of water. Eight walks, with each 
two rows of trees, terminate at this basin like a star. The 
country about the city is swampy ground and full of canals. 

The Spanish inhabitants are commonly clothed in silk, 
their hats being adorned with belts of gold and roses of 
diamonds; for even some of the slaves have bracelets and 
necklaces of gold, silver, pearls, and gems. The ladies are 
distinguished for beauty and gallantry. The shops display 
a profusion of gold, silver, and jewels. There are other 
cities of importance throughout the country. Guadalaxara 
is one of the largest and neatest. Vera Cruz is the prin- 
cipal sea-port on the east coast, and Acapulco on the west. 
The former is very strongly fortified, having for its defence 
the celebrated castle of San Juau de Ulloa, which was cap- 
tured by the United States' forces during the war in the year 
1848. 

We shall now give some interesting particulars relative to 
the early history of New Mexico and California, the greater 
part of which territory has, within a few years past, been 
added to the dominions of the United States. 

New Mexico and California were, and are, inhabited by a 
great variety of nations, entirely unconnected with each 
other, until the acquisition of the land by the United States 
government. The principal of the Indian tribes is the 
Apaches. They arc a resolute and warlike people, fond of 
I liberty, entirely averse to what they deem the tyranny and 
oppression of the law, and formidable on account of their 



AMERICA — GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 63 

great dexterity in the use of firearms, and bows and arrows. 
When the Spaniards first entered the country, they found 
the natives pretty well clothed, their lands cultivated, their 
villages neat, and their towns built of stone, in which they 
discovered some knowledge of architecture, not drawn from 
the rules of art, but the convenience dictated by nature. 
They were great lovers of mule's flesh, and upon that account 
frequently seized the mules of Spanish travellers, leaving 
their chests of silver upon the road, because they set no 
value upon that metal. Their chiefs or princes were little 
more than the leaders of their armies, elected at the plea- 
sure of the people for their wisdom or valor. The Span- 
iards who early settled in this country, have been rather 
sparing in their accounts of it, which must be imputed to 
either their- ignorance or caution. 

California, a part of the most northern of all the domin- 
ions formerly claimed by Spain on the continent of America, 
was, for a long time, supposed to be an island, but at last 
was found to be only a peninsula, issuing from the north 
coast of America and extending into the Pacific ocean eight 
hundred miles. The more southern part was known to the 
Spaniards soon after the discovery of Mexico, for Gortez dis- 
covered it in 1535; but they did not enter far into it, con- 
tenting themselves with the pearl fishery on its coast. In 
process of time the Jesuits explored this extensive penin- 
sula, and acquired a complete dominion there. On their 
expulsion in 1766, it was found to be a fertile region, with 
many mines of gold, and an extensive pearl fishery. Before 
the end of the year 1771 about two thousand Spaniards 
were settled in the upper part, and Santa Fe was founded. 
It was regularly built, and soon became an opulent city, and 
was for some time the seat of government of northern 
Mexico. The harbor of Monterey, on the Pacific, was dis- 
covered in 1602, but the town was not founded until 1770. 

The land of California possesses an inexpressible fertility; 



64 THE HISTORICAL CABINET. 

farinaceous roots and seeds of all kinds abundantly prosper 
here. Fruit trees are rare though the climate is favorable 
to them. 

The Indian inhabitants of this country are very skilful in 
drawing the bow, with which they kill- the smallest birds at 
a great distance. They display an incredible patience in 
approaching them ; they conceal themselves from the game, 
and, as it were, glide along to within shooting distance. 
Their adroitness in hunting larger animals is still more ex- 
traordinary. 

This section of country produces an abundance of pro- 
visions of all kinds, such as roots, greens, milk, fowls, oxen, 
sheep and grain. The Indians are in general small and 
weak. Their color nearly approaches that of the negroes, 
whose hair is not woolly ; the hair of these people is coarse 
and strong, and of great length. They have dark, deep- 
seated eyes, high cheek bones, a large mouth, thick lips and 
Very fine teeth. They are utterly destitute of industry and 
curiosity, being extremely indolent and very stupid; they 
turn their toes inward in walking, and their timid carriage, 
at first sight, announces their pusillanimous character. The 
dress of the most respectable of them was, until within a 
few years past, an otter skin cloak, which covered their loins 
and descended below the groin; the lazy and indolent part 
of them had only a simple piece of linen cloth, for the pur- 
pose of hiding their nakedness, and a small rabbits' skin 
cloak thrown over their shoulders, which was fastened with 
a string under their chins. The head and rest of the body 
was absolutely naked, but some few of them had hats of 
straw neatly matted. The dress of the women was a cloak 
of deer skin, badly tanned. The young girls, under nine 
years, wore a simple girdle, and the children ran naked. 

Their habitations are the most miserable that are to be 
met with among any people; they are round, about six feet 
in diameter and four in height. Some stakes, fixed in the 



AMERICA — GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 65 

earth, and which approach each other in an arch at the top, 
compose the timber-work of one of their cabins; eight or 
ten bundles of straw, badly arranged, over these stakes are 
all that defend the inhabitants from the rain and wind, and 
more than half the cabin is open when the weather is fine j 
their only precaution is to have two or three extra bundles 
of straw, which they hold in reserve. They lie down to 
sleep indiscriminately, without distinction of age or sex, on 
skins they spread around the fire, and are little solicitous 
about building their huts, because the restlessness of their 
disposition often induces them to change their abode, alleg- 
ing that they are devoured by vermin, and that when they 
quit one habitation they can build another in two hours. 
The situations they most prefer are on the banks of the 
rivers, or the south side of the mountains. 

We shall now endeavor to give some account of that terri- 
tory (now belonging to the United States) formerly known 
as Florida and Louisiana. And it may not be out of place 
to give a brief notice relative to the far-famed Fernando de 
Soto, a native of Badajos, originally possessing only cour- 
age and his sword. He had been one of the most distin- 
guished companions of Pizarro, and a main instrument in 
annexing to Spain the golden region of Pern j but in the 
conquest of Peru his part had only been secondary — the 
first prize had been carried off by another ; and he now 
sought Florida — a country, the glory of conquering and the 
pride of ruling which should be wholly his; and his wishes 
were fulfilled. He was created governor-general of the 
Floridas by the Spanish crown in 1539, and on the 18th 
of May, in that year, he sailed from Havana, with nine 
vessels, nine hundred men, besides two hundred and thir- 
teen horses, and a herd of swine. Arriving on the 80th of 
May, at the bay of Espiritu Santo, on the western coast of 
Florida, he landed three hundred men and pitched 'his 
camp; but about the break of day the next morning, they 
6* 



66 THE HISTORICAL CABINET. 

were attacked by a numerous body of savages and obliged 
to retire. Having marched several hundred miles, he passed 
through the Indian towns of Alabama, Taliscepand Tesca- 
lusa, to Mavila, a village enclosed with wooden walls, stand- 
ing near the mouth of the Mobile. The inhabitants, dis- 
gusted with the strangers, and provoked by an outrage 
committed on one of their chiefs, brought on a severe con- 
flict, in which two thousand of the natives and forty-eight 
Spaniards were slain. A considerable number of the Span- 
iards died afterwards of their wounds, making their entire 
loss 83 ; they also lost 45 horses. The village was burnt 
in the action. After this engagement, Soto retreated to the 
territory of Chicaca, where he remained until the next 
April. His army, now resuming its march through the 
Indian country, was reduced to about three hundred men 
and forty horses. Soto, having appointed Louis de Mocoso 
his successor in command, died at the confluence of the 
rivers Guacoya and Mississippi. To prevent the Indians 
from obtaining a knowledge of his death, his body was put 
into an oak, hollowed for that purpose, and sunk in the 
river. De Soto was only 42 years of age, and had expended 
100,000 ducats in this expedition. The small remains of 
his army arrived at Panuco on the 10th of September, 
1543 ; and this great expedition to settle the Floridas and 
the country adjacent, terminated only in the poverty and 
ruin of all who were concerned in it. 

In the year 1763, Florida was ceded by Spain to the 
English. The latter claimed it by virtue of its dis* 
covery by Sebastian Cabot, who sailed in the interest of 
the British crown. It was bounded on the north by Geor- 
gia, the most southern of the United States; on the east by 
the Atlantic ocean ; on the south by the Gulf of Mexico, and 
on the west by the Mississippi river. The territory of Lou- 
isiana was bounded on the north by the Indian territories, 
the property of the United States; on the south by the 



AMERICA — GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 67 

Gulf of Mexico ; on the east by Florida, and on the west by 
Mexico. Louisiana was ceded to England by Spain in 1763, 
as part of Florida, and by them, together with Florida, 
ceded to the Spaniards, according to a treaty in 1783. In 
1800 these lands were ceded to the French Republic by the 
king of Spain ; and during the administration of Thomas 
Jefferson as President of the Republic of the United States, 
they were bought from the French. The soir of all this 
country, except in the middle, is very low, and the shores 
are sandy or marshy to a great distance within land. The 
country abounds with all kinds of timber and fruit trees, 
especially pines, cypress, &o. Excellent limes and prunes, 
oranges, lemons and other tropical fruits, grow here in great 
abundance. The principal town in east Florida was San 
Augustine, but Pensacola in the west, having an excellent 
harbor, was a place of considerable commerce. There are 
many French and Creole inhabitants still remaining in 
Florida and Louisiana, who are chiefly employed in cultiva- 
ting rice, cotton and indigo, the latter of which is said to be 
as good as that from St. Domingo. 

As there are many particulars respecting the dress, manners 
and customs of the early inhabitants of this territory, it 
may not be out of place to give a few of them. The ori- 
ginal Indians were robust and well proportioned. Both 
sexes went naked except a deer-skin tied round the waist. 
Their bodies were stained with the juice of plants, and their 
hair was long and black. The women, who possessed good 
features and were well made, were so active that they could 
climb with the greatest swiftness to the tops of the highest 
trees and swim across the broadest rivers with their children 
upon their backs. The common men were, in general, sat- 
islied with one wife, but the chiefs were indulged with more, 
though the children of only one wife ■ succeeded to the 
father's dignity. 

The government of the original Floridas was in the hands 



08 THE HISTORICAL CABINET. 

of many chiefs, who were called Caciques. They were fre- 
quently at war with each other. The funeral of a deceased 
Cacique was celebrated with great pomp and solemnity. 
They placed upon his tomb the bowl out of which he wag 
accustomed to drink, and stuck great numbers of arrows in 
the earth around his grave, bewailing his death for three 
days with loud lamentations. The generality of them cut 
oil their hair as a singular testimony of their sorrow. Their 
chieftains also set fire to and consumed all the household 
furniture, together with the hut that belonged to the de- 
ceased, after which some old women were deputed, who, 
every day during the space of half a year, at morning, noon 
and evening, bewailed him with dreadful bowlings, accord- 
ing to the practice of some more civilized nations. With 
respect to religion they were idolaters. 

These particulars in reference to the Florida Indians will 
also serve for those who occupied Louisiana, there being but 
little variation in their mode of life or funeral ceremonies. 
Many attempts were made by the Spaniards and French to 
settle these territories, but in consequence of the hostility of 
the Indians but little progress was made. The Duke of Or- 
leans, towards the end of the reign of Louis the XIY. es- 
tablished a colony of French. After the war of 1756 it fell 
into the hands of Spain. The taking possession of this new 
colony in the name of its new master, was in every respect a 
disastrous era for the country. The bands which had here- 
tofore united it to France were violently torn asunder. As- 
sassinations of persons, confiscation of property, tyrannical 
expulsions, cruel imprisonment, and the horrors of the in- 
quisition, were exercised by the Spanish government with 
unrelenting cruelty. After these dreadful scenes, on the 
first day of October, 1800, a treaty was entered into by 
France and Spain, "in which Louisiana and the Floridas 
again came into tha hands of the French. New Orleans, 
the chief city of the territory, began to grow in importance 



AMERICA — GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 69 

after this change of government, though its trade was of 
small value for several years after the Floridas and Louisi- 
ana became part of the United States, which they did on 
the 30th of April, 1802. In 1802 a traveller thus describes 
New Orleans and its inhabitants as they were under the 
French : 

"New Orleans is situated in the thirtieth degree of 
north latitude, and the nineteenth of west longitude, on 
the east side of the Mississippi, eight leagues from its en- 
trance into the Gulf of Mexico. In following the course 
of the river, it is built on its left bank. The river forms 
before the city, a kind of semi-circular basin, here and there 
widening. It is an equivalent for a port on the east, where 
vessels anchor close to one another ; and so near the water- 
side, that by means of a couple of forts, in the form of a 
bridge, there is an easy communication from land to each 
vessel, and their cargoes are discharged with the greatest 
ease. The depth of the river, taken at the middle of its 
bed, in front of the city, is about forty fathoms. The city 
is about 3600 feet in length. To which may be super-added 
the suburbs, extending, like the city, along the river, and 
about half as long. But, strictly speaking, both the city 
and suburbs are mere outlines, the greatest part of the 
houses being constructed of wood, having but one story, 
erected often on blocks, and roofed with shingles. There 
are a few houses, more solid and less exposed, on the banks 
of the river, and in the front streets. Those houses are of 
burnt brick ; some one, others two stories high, having the 
upper part furnished with an open gallery, which surrounds 
the building. In the heart of the town and suburbs, 
nothing is to be seen but barracks. The streets are well 
laid out and tolerably spacious ; but that is all. Bordered 
by a footway of four or five feet, and throughout unpaved, 
walking is inconvenient; but what more particularly in- 
commodes the foot-passengers is the projecting flight of steps 



70 THE HISTORICAL CABINET. 

"before every door. The streets being very Hat, the filth. 
from the houses remains where it was thrown ; and during 
a great part of the year they are a common sewer; a sink 
of nastiness, dirt, and corruption. With regard to the pub- 
lic buildings, there are only the Hotel de Ville, and the 
Parochial Church, both built of brick ; the former, how- 
ever, has but one story. They stand near each other on a 
spot contiguous to the river. Nearly in the centre of the 
town is a small theatre, where dramas are performed with 
considerable ability. The company consists of half a 
dozen French actors and actresses from the island of St. 
Domingo. 

"In winter, during the carnival, there is a public ball open 
twice a week, one day for grown people and another for 
children. It is nothing but a kind of hall made out of a 
rude barrack, and stands in such an unfortunate part of the 
city, that it is only accessible through mud and mire. Each 
side is accommodated with boxes, where the mammas form 
a tapestry, and where ladies of younger date, who come 
merely as spectators, are accommodated with seats. The 
musicians are half a dozen gypsies, or people of color, 
scraping their fiddles with all their might. The room 
is miserably lighted, no chandeliers, but simple candles. 
It is hither, in the months of January and February, but 
seldom sooner or later, that the inhabitants repair, men, 
women and children, to forget their cares in dancing; nor 
will they tire at their country dances, from seven at night 
till cock-crowing in the morning. The price of admittance 
into this temple of Terpsichore is one-half dollar for each 
individual. Every white person in decent garb is admitted 
for this sum. The convent of nuns contains forty sisters. 
The city cannot boast of an exchange, a college or a library. 
Such is New Orleans in 1802.. It deserves the name 
rather of a great straggling town, than a city ; though even 
to merit that title, it would be required to be longer. In 



AMERICA — GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 71 

fact, the mind can, I think, scarcely imagine to itself a more 
disagreeable place on the face of the whole globe; it is 
disgusting in whatever point of view it be contemplated, 
both as a whole, separately, and the wild, brutish aspect of 
its suburbs. Yet it is the only town in the whole colony, 
and in the ardour of admiration it is called by the inhabi- 
tants the capitol, the city ! 

" The Creoles of Louisiana and the Floridas, male and 
female, are generally of a middle stature, well formed, and 
rather robust than slender. They are seldom fresh colored ; 
few faces are seen purpled over with the ruddy hue of 
health. They are rather fair than brown, and their hair is 
commonly light from their infancy, or if changed by years, 
attains to a chestnut. The women of this country are pe- 
culiarly the favorites of nature. Their skin, without being 
of a ravishing white, is fair; their features, though irregu- 
lar, are agreeable; their lips are of a blushing red, their 
bosoms are heaving snows, their eyes blue and voluptuous, 
and their lovely hair is often long enough to fall almost to 
their feet. Considered morally, they are superior to the 
men. They have more penetration, and to them belongs 
the practice of hospitality. When a stranger of any gen- 
tility goes into a house and requests shelter, it is the mis- 
tress who receives him and does the honors of the place. 
The master, if he sits down with his guest, is upon thorns; 
he leaves him without ceremony, to be entertained by his 
wife, and goes about his business. The Louisiana and 
Florida ladies have a number of good qualities. They are 
respectable daughters, affectionate wives and tender mothers, 
skilled in domestic economy, frugal and reserved. Ought 
not a husband, blessed with one of these fair spirits for a 
wife, to make a sacrifice of his authority to preserve peace 
in his family ? What man in his senses would disdain the 
government of a seraph form, or not obey sweet mandates 
from cherub lips ? But the husbands here are fools on this 



72 THE HISTORICAL CABINET. 

subject; they begin with dissensions and end witb divorce. 
The country abounds in fine girls, who languish in celibacy, 
and of whom many will never have husbands except in 
their dreams. These girls are passionately fond of dancing, 
and will pass whole nights in succession at this enterprise. 

" The ladies of New Orleans dress themselves with taste. 
The women in the country are less pompous in their apparel, 
but they love it equally well. Their little hearts beat with 
tumult at the sight of a new dress, that has the character 
of being fashionable. " 

New Orleans, and the country adjacent, have undergone 
great changes since this account was written. The city is 
now one of the best built, and populous in the United 
States. In point of commerce, it is the third in the Union, 
and the hospitality and intelligence of its inhabitants are 
well known to all who have visited it. 



THE END. 



PUBLISHER'S NOTICE. 

The publishers would inform the reading community that the pre- 
sent number of the " Historical Cabinet" is but the commence- 
ment of a series of highly interesting historical pamphlets, which they 
intend to issue monthly. The succeeding numbers will be issued 
in the same form, and on fine, white paper, so that any number of 
them can be bound together. The value of these pamphlets to the 
young, as well as the aged, must be apparent to all who peruse 
" The American Continent." Each succeeding number, like the 
present, will be complete in itself, and possess equally as much 
useful and instructive information. 

J. J. FULLMER & Co., Publishers, 

48 Filbert Street, Philadelphia. 



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